


Miraculous: New Beginnings

by Girlinatophat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Original Work
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Original Miraculous Ladybug Character(s) - Freeform, Original Miraculouses, Original Trans Character - Freeform, Originally Posted on Wattpad, but has original characters, some animals are reused, superheroes gonna save Paris tho!, uses miraculous lore, well as original as possible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22088323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girlinatophat/pseuds/Girlinatophat
Summary: A new threat has arrived in Paris. For years, the population has lived in peace, with the miraculouses having disappeared off the face of the earth. But with the arrival of Medusa, the user of the snake miraculous, peace has become threatened. Aithusa, the guardian of the miracle box, has no choice but to hand out various miraculouses to ensure the safety of Paris and the population. But what exactly does Medusa want? Do they want to cause chaos, or is it more complex than that? Will the Miraculous Six, six new heroes, be able to stop her plans?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Aithusa, the Traveller

Aithusa flew out of a portal, crash landing into a pile of cardboard boxes. He was panting heavily, holding his hand against his chest. 

Moving the cardboard boxes out of the way, he noticed that he had managed to crash near an abandoned apartment. Needing a place to hide, he climbed through the broken window and hid behind an old couch.

"Adder, guard away," he muttered, detransforming back to his regular self. It was a relief that his hair was back to it's regular length - he couldn't count the number of times he had tripped up on it when transformed.

His kwami, Adder, landed in his hands. The wyvern kwami was exhausted, too. 

The wyvern miraculous holder, now known as Alexandre, handed Adder part of a waffle. Adder nibbled on the treat, regaining their strength. 

"Did they follow us?" Alexandre asked his kwami, glancing outside. "That was a quick getaway... how many years has it been?"

"It has been twenty years since we last landed," Adder explained, floating next to Alexandre's head. "Our enemies are still here, even now. They have been waiting for the arrival of the new guardian, ever since..."

Alexandre sighed and pulled out a small box from his pocket. The miracle box had changed form, now that it was in his hands. Inside were a variety of miraculouses - however, he couldn't rest until he had fulfilled his promise to the previous guardian. He had to get the rest of the miraculouses back.

"This is when the snake miraculous will be activated again," Alexandre noted, "I'll have to deal with it myself-"

"Master, that isn't a very good idea," Adder reminded him, "Even if you hold the guardian's miraculous, you cannot harness the power of every single miraculous. It would damage you greatly-!"

He frowned at his kwami. "Adder, what are you saying? I can't bring the others here. It's dangerous enough with me-"

"I'm saying that you need to hand out some of the miraculouses," Adder continued, "With people to help, we can easily defeat our enemies. Also... I... I think it's best if we can lay low for a while... we have no idea how powerful they've gotten in those twenty years, especially now that they're adults."

Hesitantly, Alexandre nodded. "I'm a little exhausted, but... alright. I know exactly who to give these to," he said, opening the miracle box. "We have to hurry... in case we run into anyone that might recognise us."

Adder nodded and prepared for Alexandre's transformation. His miraculous was his single helix earring (apparently it was 'safer' than having two earrings). 

"Adder, guard up!" cried Alexandre.

Adder got sucked into the wyvern miraculous, the helix turning gold in colour. Alexandre swiped his hand over his face, creating a red mask with a green outline. He spun around, creating a dark green bodysuit. His blond highlights changed to a crimson colour as his hair grew down to his knees. He threw his head back, green wyvern-like wings sprouting from his back. His bodysuit formed wyvern-like spikes over his spine. As his hands reached upwards to grab his katana, red fabric wrapping round his waist. Scales covered his bodysuit as he sliced the air, on guard. 

Alexandre, now transformed into Aithusa, leapt out of the broken window. He was still a little bruised from the fight before, but that didn't stop him from heading to his home. It would be better to start out with the people he knew better, after all.

——

Veronique Levert tied back her long blonde hair, staring at herself in the mirror. School was due to start up again soon, and she wasn't looking forward to it. It meant that she had to take a step back from her acting job. 

As she was about to head back out, she heard a rustling behind her. When she turned around, there was a white bow sitting on her pillow. Her window was open. Thinking it was odd, she closed the window and picked up the white bow.

It was kind of cute. She smiled and put it around her collar. 

Just as she did so, a small mouse animal... thing flew out of it and floated besides her. "Hiya! I'm Squeek, the mouse kwami! What's your name?"

Veronique screamed and dived under her bed. "G-Get away from me-! I don't want to be cursed!" she cried, her hands quivering in fear.

"Don't worry... I'm not going to hurt you!" the thing insisted, "You need to listen to me... it's a matter of life or death!"

——

Aithusa smiled sadly at Veronique and Squeek. He didn't have time to listen to the interaction any further. Five miraculouses remained. He was running out of time.

——

Kobe Hazel sat in an empty house, as per usual. He was running out of things to do. His father wasn't due home for another couple of hours at least. 

Whilst he was contemplating on what to do, he heard the window open. Fearing a robber, he grabbed a nearby chair (yes, a whole chair) and creeped into his room.

Instead of an intruder, he found a silver ring sitting on his pillow. It looked expensive. Did he have a secret admirer? He hoped not. 

Curious, he picked up the ring. Maybe it was just some dumb, cheap ring from a charity shop. He tried it on to see if it was.

A small coyote animal flew out of the ring and landed on Kobe's pillow. "Koou here! I'm the coyote kwami-"

Kobe didn't give Koou a moment more. He grabbed the blanket and attempted to smother the kwami. It wasn't a crime if he didn't know what it was!

Instead, Koou passed through the blanket and floated next to Kobe. Any attempts to hit the kwami with a pillow failed, too. They just kept passing through it.

"I'm your friend, Kobe!" the kwami continued, "Please, stop doing-"

——

Aithusa couldn't stop himself from chuckling at the sight of Kobe trying to swat a kwami. He couldn't stay for long, so he headed for the next soon-to-be hero.

——

Percy Otero watched as his phone buzzed over and over. He hated being a part of group chats. Or group work. Even in class, he was too shy to answer a question. 

Thankfully, he was about to have a new friend. When he walked into his bedroom to lock away his phone, he found a necklace decorated with a bird's claws. Maybe a bird flew in and left it...?

Looking at it carefully, he realised that the make looked more... expensive than a simple bird making it. He put it on to see if it would fall apart easily. 

As he did so, an eagle kwami flew out of the necklace and landed on his pillow. "Wow, so comfy... oh, I'm Claww, the eagle kwami. What's your name?"

Percy stared at the kwami in shock. He found it hard to speak to people - how the hell was he going to speak to this thing? "U-Uh... Percy..." he muttered.

"Nice to meet you, 'u-uh Percy!'" the kwami continued, "Now, here's the thing... Paris needs you...!"

——

Leaping away from the window before he could be seen, Aithusa headed for the next hero. He worried about the number of witnesses there could be at the next location. If he could get the old TV working in that abandoned apartment, he could watch the news and see if anyone did spot him.

——

Bianca Riley grew tired of waiting for a response from Percy. They were meant to be doing a group project together, but she had a tough time communicating with him. Even her high levels of charisma weren't doing anything. 

Most of her siblings were away on a shopping trip, leaving her mostly alone in the house. She was shoving a mouthful of pasta into her mouth as she bounced into her room to see a pink bracelet on her pillow. 

Thinking it was a present from one of her siblings, she put down her pasta and put the bracelet on her wrist. The little ones tended to leave things in her room all of the time, so it wasn't new to her.

Just as she did so, a rabbit kwami flew out of the bracelet. They flew about happily before responding. "Hello! I'm Wabbi, the rabbit kwami! I can't wait to get to know you!"

Bianca burst out laughing at the sight of Wabbi. "Wh-Who put you up to this? Was it Oliver? Colette?"

Wabbi shook their head. "No, I... I'm a kwami! I'm real! I'm not a projection or anything, I promise... I'm here because Paris needs your help!"

——

Aithusa hurried away before Bianca's siblings could come home. He was lucky that most of them were out. However, he was beginning to grow tired. He needed to hurry this up.

——

Bruno Lebrun was in a hurry, too. Once again, he had bouncers hot on his heels for maybe-possibly breaking the rules in his poker match. His pockets were overflowing with euros, making his location extremely obvious. All for a bit of bread. 

He threw himself in a nearby alleyway to try and catch his breath. Sweat was piling up on his forehead. The footsteps were catching up to him. He was running out of time, fast.

Just when he had lost hope, a red ascot tie floated down in front of him. He looked up to see if he could find the source, but found none. Shrugging, he put it on, hoping to use it as a mask to hide his mouth.

In his time of need, a wolf kwami flew out of the ascot tie. They hovered below Bruno's head, realising the situation immediately. "Hey there, I'm Krratch, the wolf kwami... looks like you need some help..."

Bruno stared in shock at the kwami, shaking his head to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Um... yeah, yeah! I need to escape!" he hissed.

——

Aithusa shook his head at his f... Bruno's antics. He was definitely used to this by now. Yet he still had one last person on his list, so he leapt to the next rooftop, heading for a certain house. 

——

Flo Jayne was taking a nap on the first day of the rest of her life. This made it particularly difficult for Aithusa to plant a choker on her pillow. He kind of... threw it from the window at her face, not knowing what else to do.

She woke up thanks to the smack of the choker on her face. At first, she thought it was her grandmother giving her a gift. Seeing that it was a choker, she put it on to see if she managed to get the size right.

A butterfly kwami flew out of the choker and landed on her blanket. "Hiya! I'm Kaliis, the butterfly kwami! It's a little early for a nap, don't you think?"

Flo groaned and closed her eyes, thinking that she was asleep. "Mm... go away... I'm tired..." she muttered.

"Nooo! You can't sleep when Paris is in danger!" Kaliis whined, "Come on, get up!"

——

Aithusa landed back at the abandoned apartment - which was apparently his home now - and sighed in relief. "Adder, guard away," he exclaimed.

Adder nibbled on the waffle inside Alexandre's pocket and poked their head out. "We should make sure that your previous knowledge of these heroes doesn't cause a paradox. I'm just saying-"

"It's fine," grumbled Alexandre, as tired as ever. "We should be able to leave it up to them. Honestly, I want to keep an eye on them, but I need my rest... and so do you."

Nodding, Adder flew to the window to see a dark cloud form over Paris. "Ah, looks like our little snake friend has awakened... master, do you think it's...?"

Alexandre walked over to the window and shook his head. "I'm not sure what to think... however, this looks a little less... imaginative. Perhaps this is a new snake miraculous holder."

"A fair test for our new heroes," remarked Adder, "Let's hope none of them get hurt... I know you'd feel responsible."

He smiled softly as he watched the rain pour down over Paris. Adder was right; he just didn't want to admit it. Even Alexandre's mother knew it when he was a child.


	2. The Downcast Over Paris

Flo Jayne rushed towards a nearby window. Kaliis floated next to her and pointed to the giant cloud above Paris. "There!' the kwami cried, "That's a victim of the snake miraculous, I'm sure! Flo, we have to-"

"Don't worry, I listened to what you said. I have to transform, right?" she smirked, "There's a lot to remember, but I'll be fine."

"Remember, you won't be alone," Kaliis reminded her, "The other heroes will soon join you... but you can't reveal your secret identity! If the owner of the snake miraculous knew your identity, they could use your family against you, or worse!"

Flo nodded and took a deep breath. "Kaliis, fly up!" she cried, activating her transformation. 

Kaliiis got sucked into the butterfly miraculous, the choker turning pink in colour. She raised her arm and flicked her hair back, her hair tied back into a loose low ponytail. Her boots clicked together as a pale purple bodysuit formed as she swiped her pink mask onto her face. She grabbed her whip and wrapped it around her hips, creating a butterfly-like patterned skirt. The skirt was a mixture of light pink, blue, and green. She cracked her whip, placing a hand on her hip. 

Now Monarch, she carefully opened the window of her room and jumped to the nearest rooftop. She really wasn't looking forward to meeting new people. Nevertheless, she used her whip to swing towards the giant raincloud that loomed over Paris.

——

Percy Otero watched as rain began to pour down over Paris. It was meant to be sunny today. Why was it raining?

"This is what I was telling you about!" chirped Claww, flying towards the window. "The snake miraculous holder has possessed someone, and this is the result."

"I-I... have to transform, don't I?" Percy smiled awkwardly, "Why did you pick me? I'm not the best person, surely-"

"Listen, when you transform, you're no longer Percy Otero," said Claww, flashing a confident smile, "You're someone else entirely. The people of Paris will be counting on you to save them."

He looked at his reflection in the window, still unsure of himself. "Claww... take flight!" he cried, activating his transformation. 

Claww got sucked into the eagle miraculous, the necklace turning grey in colour. He raised his arms up and threw them down, creating a brown bodysuit. As he threw his head back, brown feathered wings sprouted from his back. He reached upwards and pulled aviator goggles over his eyes. Percy clipped a newly formed bow to his hip and spread his wings triumphantly.

At first, he wasn't sure what to call himself. He was getting used to his wings; they weren't strong enough for him to fly that far. It was enough for a jump boost, such as for going over rooftops. He almost crash landed into a giant advertisement board when the inspiration came to him; he was no longer Percy. Now he was Talonarrow. 

——

Veronique Levert held Squeek in the palms of her hands and frowned. "Won't my parents notice that I'm gone? What if I'm busy and-"

"Everything will work out... just trust me!" Squeek insisted, "Remember everything that I told you. You won't be alone, you'll have the others to help you."

She nodded and took a deep breath. "Squeek, whiskers alert!"

Squeek got sucked into the mouse miraculous, the bow turning pink in colour. Veronique raised her foot up and jumped sideways, a grey bodysuit covering her. As her hands swept over her body, a white top and shorts formed over the bodysuit. A pink belt wrapped around her waist, a gymnastic ribbon hanging from it. She held the ribbon and wrapped it around her, the pink ribbon creating pink stripes on her bodysuit. As her hands reached her face, a grey mask formed with a pink outline. Her hair was down, silver highlights reaching the top of her head. White mouse-like ears sprouted from her head as she spun around one final time and held her ribbon out triumphantly. 

Looking at the movie posters around her room, she settled on her name. Now she was Minette. She was inspired by an old movie poster of a drag queen called Minettera. It wasn't too on the nose, was it?

Minette used her ribbon to swing from streetlight to streetlight, heading straight to the mysterious cloud. Well, it wouldn't be that mysterious when she got there. She hoped.

——

Kobe Hazel sat back and watched Koou fly from corner to corner. He still thought he was dreaming, especially when Koou had finished explaining everything.

"Are you ready to go, little hero?" Koou said with a grin, "The others are waiting for you. We have people to save!" 

He sighed and stretched his legs. "I'll be the best out of all of them. I bet I could take this snake on by myself!" 

Koou looked at him with a frown. The kwami didn't seem convinced, but they didn't dare voice their opinions.

"Koou, let's run!" he cried out, throwing his arm to the side. 

Koou got sucked into the coyote miraculous, the ring turning red in colour. Kobe jumped up and slammed the ground, creating a dark red suit. He clawed the air and created black claws on his hands. A red tail sprouted from the edge of his spine, tipped in white. Tapping his head, two red coyote ears formed on top, fading into white at the tips. Grinning, he clawed at the air and readied himself for a battle. 

Admittedly, he wasn't very original with his name. He just wanted to get out there and fight. To show that, he chose the name Coyote and leapt to the nearest rooftop. 

——

Bianca Riley couldn't keep her hands off of Wabbi throughout the entire explanation. Currently, she was throwing Wabbi up into the air and catching them. Like a little game.

"Maybe... we should get ready," muttered Wabbi in between throws, "I believe... in you, Bianca!"

She giggled and put the kwami down. "I mean, if I have to... we'll have to play later. Promise me we will!"

Wabbi nodded and pointed to a nearby window. "Let's go before your siblings head back. We don't want them interrupting us!"

Bianca nodded and took a deep breath. "Wabbi, hop on!"

Wabbi got sucked into the rabbit miraculous, the bracelet turning white in colour. Bianca swiped the area between her eyes, forming a white mask. She raised her arms up as a white bodysuit formed onto her. A rabbit's tail formed at the edge of her spine as she bounced about excitedly. Her hands tapped her head, creating two long, white rabbit's ears. She raised her hand and grabbed a large hammer, slamming it down on the ground. Her body leant against it, one hand on her hip.

She squealed with joy upon seeing the cute tail on her outfit. Immediately, she knew her name had to incorporate it. Now she was Cottontail.

——

Bruno Lebrun sat in the porch of an abandoned shop as Krratch explained everything. It was beginning to rain. He thanked the building for the shelter.

"See this rain? It's because of the snake miraculous holder!" Krratch claimed, "They've possessed a victim... I can feel it! We have to do something!"

"Uh, do something?" Bruno asked with a frown. "I have to do it now? I'm supposed to be looking for food-"

The kwami looked at him with a glare. He quickly got the message. Finding food had to wait.

"Krratch, hunting time!" he cried out, alerting some nearby pigeons.

Krratch got sucked into the wolf miraculous, the ascot tie changing to a faded brown colour. Bruno flicked his hair, it somehow becoming more nearer as grey wolf ears sprouted from his head. He raised his hands, gauntlets covering his hands. As he punched the air, a grey bodysuit formed, turning white near his legs. His hand swiped over his chest, creating a black paw print. A bushy wolf tail, the same colours as his bodysuit, sprouted from the bottom of his spine. His hand swiped over his face, creating a grey mask. He raised his fists triumphantly, ready to fight.

For his name, he wanted to use something more on-the-nose and reflect his French heritage. As he ran up the drainage pipes he decided on Loupe - hoping that he wouldn't be scolded for being unoriginal.

——

Monarch was the first to arrive on the scene. She saw a large cloud with a person sitting on top of it. Before she could yell out to them, another hero jumped onto the roof. 

"Heya!" Minette yelled out to her, using her best acting skills to disguise her voice. "Wow, you're a hero, too? Nice to meet you! I'm Minette!"

"Minette?" A voice behind them questioned. It was Coyote, having just crawled up the building. "That's kinda cute for a superhero. Are you sure that's your name?"

"Hey, leave her alone," said Monarch, shooting Coyote a glare. "Are there any others? This can't be it, can it?"

The three of them turned to see Cottontail using her hammer to swing from the streetlights. When she landed, she was shaking terribly. "Ah-! Never... doing that again! That was harder than I thought..."

Talonarrow was the next to show up. He flapped his wings and landed perfectly on the roof of the building. "There's more of us here than I thought," he commented, "Looks like there's an almost equal gender split, too."

"W-Wait for me-!" A voice cried, scrambling up the building. It was Loupe. "Am... am I too late?! No? Ah, good..."

The group exchanged greetings, however the whirling cloud above them shortened their introductions. When they looked up, the rain had only gotten worse.

"Hey!" cried Coyote, "You, up there! What's going on? What's the deal with all of the rain? You'll flood the city!"

The cloud hovered down the reveal the person sitting on top of it. Cottontail recognised it to be a nearby circus performer, Happy the clown. Happy he did not look, however.

Happy wiped his tears (which were causing the rain) and glared at the team. "Happy I am no more! My name is Downcast! The entire city of Paris will know my name!"

"Happy, no-!" cried Cottontail, "What happened to your circus troupe? Didn't you have a show today?"

"I did... but they ignored me... nobody else likes my act..." he continued, bursting into another set of tears.

"Is it even worth trying to reason with him?" Talonarrow asked the group, "Remember, the snake miraculous holder is controlling them... we just have to break the possession."

"Uh, how do we do that again?" chuckled Loupe nervously. He hadn't paid enough attention. "Is it like a video game, where you have to look for a weak spot?"

"That's right," said Minette, flashing a smile. "There should be an inflamed area somewhere... if a miraculous user, transformed, touches it, the possession will end."

"However, if our snake miraculous user is smart, they would've added extra armour to that area," Coyote sighed in annoyance, "It'll be hard, especially with that cloud he's using as transport."

"Some of us can fly," Monarch noted, glancing towards Talonarrow. "Hey, can you? What's your special ability?"

"I... can't fly for long," Talonarrow admitted, "I can summon wind, which could... uh, do some things. It's better than nothing."

"We all need to work together," Minette said confidently, "Our special powers have to work together... that's the only way this'll work."

Downcast grew tired of waiting. He flew to the neck building over, taking his rain there. The rest of the group quickly hopped after him, calling out his name. 

"Let's corner him!" Monarch cried, "When we've got him cornered, we can coordinate an attack! Get ready to get him off his high ho- I mean, his raincloud!"

The group yelled in unison, ready to use their new powers for the good of Paris.


	3. The Miraculous Six

Monarch was about to crack her whip at Downcast when she saw a large amount of police presence behind them. Downcast had noticed it, too. There was a swarm of police cars around them, officers pointing their weapons towards Downcast.

_"You lot! Surrender now, and stop terrorising Paris!"_ A man with a loudspeaker cried, _"Or we'll have to use force!"_

"It's alright!" Minette yelled back, "We're the... Miraculous Six! We're going to stop Downcast, so you guys don't have to worry!"

They didn't seem to believe her. Instead, they fired a shot towards Downcast. The bullet bounced off of his cloud, making a dent in the rooftop. 

"Leave me alone!" Downcast demanded, crying as hard as he could. A flood of water poured out of his cloud, flowing straight to the police cars below. 

Cottontail attempted to block the water, running in front of it. She raised her hammer in defence. However, she underestimated the force of the water. It splashed her so heavily that she was knocked off of her feet.

Talonarrow grabbed her hand before she could tumble off of the rooftop. "Be more careful next time," he reminded her, pulling her to her feet. 

The rest of the group were focused on the water. Monarch realised what Downcast was trying to do. The water was going to flip the police cars, crushing those nearby. She had to act. 

She remembered what Kaliis had told her earlier, about her special ability. "Wings flap!" she cried, cracking her whip at the row of police cars.

Butterfly wings formed on the cars as they began to float skywards, out of the way of the rushing water. The officers looked at their cars with opened mouths - luckily, nobody was inside of them.

Minette was the next to act. The water was still rushing towards the police officers, who had no time to run away. She remembered her special ability, too. 

"Scurry!" exclaimed Minette, wrapping herself in her ribbon. Time seemed to slow as she ran towards the police officers, using her supersonic speed to take them away from the water.

Now back to focusing on Downcast, the group looked upwards at him. "We won't be able to do anything if he's able to float away so easily," Coyote remarked, "We need to do something... and fast, since you two used up your special abilities."

Monarch rolled her eyes. "Does anyone have anything that could help us? Talonarrow, you said you can fly, right? Otherwise those wings of yours are pretty useless.”

Talonarrow nodded. "My special ability can enhance the distance I can fly. I won't be able to corner him on my own, though... my arrows can’t do much splash damage, as you will.”

"Um, I can jump..." murmured Cottontail, "I mean... I can jump higher than others. I might be able to hit the cloud..."

"You two better hurry up, then," Loupe whined, "He's getting away... just saying! We’re running out of time!”

Cottontail huffed and took a deep breath. "Bound away!" she whispered, jumping upwards to the same level as Downcast.

At the same time, Talonarrow readied his wings. "Feathered gale!" he yelled, a gust of wind forming underneath him. It lifted him upwards, up to the height of Downcast.

Cottontail and Talonarrow readied their weapons, striking the cloud Downcast was on. Cottontail slammed her hammer straight through the cloud, causing the particles to scatter. As Downcast was vulnerable, Talonarrow fired an arrow towards him, striking him in the shoulder.

Downcast fell to the ground cartoonishly, complete with a cartoon sound effect. "Y-You'll pay for that-! Unlucky for you, I can just summon another cloud!"

Before Downcast could begin to do so, Loupe ran towards him. "Howl!" he... howled, activating his special ability. A shockwave of noise was created, however, only Downcast was impacted.

With Downcast stunned, Coyote could use his special ability. "Perception!" he cried, tapping himself lightly on the shoulder. To be honest, he just wanted to see if he could turn himself invisible rather than an object, like his kwami suggested.

Coyote crept up behind Downcast and noticed that his left shoulder was swollen. That must be been his weak spot, he thought. He raised his hand and scratched it with his sharp claws, causing Downcast to cry out in pain.

Sure enough, he was right. Dark molecules seeped out of Downcast's skin, covering him completely. When the molecules disappeared, Downcast was gone. Instead there was Happy the clown, as everybody knew him.

"Ugh... what happened?" Happy asked the group, looking around with wide eyes. It seemed like he had no memory of the event.

"Do you remember anything?" Talonarrow quizzed him, landing on the ground. "Like... about the person that did this to you? Or what happened a few seconds ago?”

Happy thought for a moment before responding. "There was a weird snake girl... she had a harp. She played some music, and that was the last thing I remember..."

"Oh, well. You're safe now," grinned Minette, "There's a ladder for you to get down... I’m sure the police can take you home, it they’re still here, that is...”

"We should probably shoot off, too," Coyote mentioned, gesturing to the cameras behind them. "We'll detransform in front of them if we're not careful. Uh... nice meeting you lot, I guess...?"

As the group parted their ways, Monarch was sure to take a route that would shake off any followers. When she was certain that she was alone, she took a deep breath. "Kaliis, fly down." 

Flo detransformed, an exhausted Kaliis landing in her open palms. "Woah... it's been a while, I'll admit... I bet you were great!"

She smiled at her kwami friend. "Yeah, you could say that... I can't wait to hear about it at school tomorrow. But for now, let's get you some food, huh?"

——

Alexandre gasped in amazement as he saw their first triumph unfold on live TV. "I... I've seen this video before, but not like this... it's so different when it's happening live. I've even repeated some of these lines between my siblings..." he mumbled, smiling faintly as childhood memories rushed back into his mind.

Adder looked at him with a frown. "I'm still a little confused about you, master. Even though we only met a while ago... I feel like I've known you for quite some time. You talk about current events as if you've seen them before... and you know all about the miraculouses. Including me."

He giggled and winked at his kwami. "I am the guardian, after all. One has to be qualified for that position. I'm afraid I can't tell anyone here everything - including you. Time is fragile, after all. I don't want to be the one that breaks it."

"Or cause a paradox, you mean," smirked Adder, "Looks like I won't see the light of day... since you refuse to get yourself involved in current events."

"Not true," Alexandre said, shaking his head. "If we are desperate, I suppose I could send you out... ah, no, what if someone was to capture you? I'll have no choice but to step in myself if something goes wrong."

"Relax, master," soothed Adder, "Nothing can go wrong. The previous guardian knew you could do this. And so do I."

Alexandre smiled at his kwami. "I... thank you, Adder. You always know what to say."

——

The next day was Monday. Being students, The Miraculous Six went to school. Françoise Dupont High School was, surprisingly, where all of the heroes went to school. Even more surprising was that they were all in the same class. 

Alexandre sure had a weird way of choosing heroes.

When Bruno entered the classroom, it was full of chatter. He took his seat behind Veronique and tapped her shoulder. "Sooo... The Miraculous Six, huh?"

"It's a weird name," shrugged Veronique, "I didn't even think Paris had superheroes! They're all over the news today..."

"Give it a day," Kobe chimed in, "They'll be replaced with another random news story. They'll be yesterday's news."

Percy wanted to join in the conversation, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. His desk partner, Talora Moreau, was similar. They preferred to read the story on their phones.

Bianca walked in just before the bell went, throwing her bag on her chair. "Hah... I soooo didn't realise how long it would take to take the others to school... oops...?" she chuckled.

Her desk partner, Flo, sighed at her antics. "You really should think about leaving earlier if that's the case. You're red in the face..."

The chatter stopped once their teacher, Mr. Baudet, walked in. He seemed to be in a chipper mood; a spring in his step. 

He put his laptop down and beamed at the class. "Good morning... now, we have a lot to get through today, so let's get started..."

——

It had been twenty years since the guardian box was reactivated. It had been twenty years since superheroes graced Paris. They were finally in the right timeline.

The three of them were having a meeting about this new presence. There was a man with blond hair, a woman with purple hair, and a woman with black hair. 

“My apologies for the lack of imagination by the snake miraculous,” the black-haired woman sighed, “Although, if she improves...”

“Yes, you’re right!” beamed they purple-haired woman, “They are rather weak. The new guardian seems to be hiding, too... if they learnt anything from the last time we saw them, then they’ll stay in hiding for a while.”

“Oh, they’ll come out of hiding,” grinned the black-haired woman, “These new heroes are new. Naive. Clumsy. Once their lives are threatened... the guardian will come running.”

The blond-haired man hadn’t said anything until now. He looked up at his prized painting and laughed. “Yes, our demon will come from the sky... once they see that their darling demons are in danger, that is...”

“I’ll make sure to give our snake friend plenty of ideas,” the black-haired women smirked, “I’m sure I can make her be a little more creative. What about your...?”

“Oh, I’m sorting that out tomorrow,” said the purple-haired woman, “We know that he’s taken it... he just couldn’t resist. He always did have a fascination with that painting...”

“He doesn’t know that we’ve caught on,” the blond-haired man remarked, shrugging his shoulders. “Then again, I suppose that was the point. I would hope that Hachii has explained everything to him by now.”

“If all goes to plan, we should get that miraculous fixed soon,” the purple-haired woman grinned, “It’s taken us twenty years, but it’ll be worth it... Mm, even if this is only phase one!”

The black-haired woman looked towards the painting with a frown. “I never got your obsession with this thing. It’s a bit... on the nose.”

“There’s a story to that,” the blond-haired man chuckled lightly, “It’s a family treasure. It’s also incredibly handy for hiding things... although, it was only recently that I hung it this way. Ever since our lives were changed forever...”

The three of them looked towards the painting with hope in their eyes. It was a marvel to look at; the brush strokes being original. 

However, the painting was hung upside down. Just as the man said, the demon from above was coming from the sky. Wyvern wings extended from their back, an army of similar animal-looking people by their side. 

On the opposite side, an army made up of dark shadows rose up against them. Due to the way the painting was hung, they seemed to be crawling from the depths of hell. 

The name of the painting was lost in time. Some argued that the title was _‘THEY FALL’_ whereas others argued that it was _‘APOCALYPSE’._ Here, however it lived on in the original painting. 

_‘MIRACULOUS’_


	4. Hey, Cuties!

"We have a new student joining us today," announced Mr. Baudet, "Now, I expect you to all be nice to him... and mature about this, too."

For some reason, Mr. Baudet dashed out of the classroom. The class looked around in confusion; immediately bursting into mindless chatter. Things seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

Mr. Baudet reentered the room pushing someone in a wheelchair; he seemed a bit out of breath. In the wheelchair was a meek-looking purple-haired boy. Kobe soon realised where he was going to be placed in the seating plan.

"This here is Raphael. He's been home-schooled up until now - this is his first time in a school like this!" their teacher explained, "However, he needs a buddy to... help him out, and such. Get him used to things. Would anyone like to volunteer?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Kobe looked around desperately in hopes someone would volunteer. Nobody did.

Raphael sagged a bit in his wheelchair. He looked towards Mr. Baudet with a frown on his face. It reminded Kobe of a younger sibling trying to get their older sibling in trouble.

Mr. Baudet's gaze fell onto Kobe. "Ah... there's a spare seat next to you, Kobe. His wheelchair can fit in there, too... why don't you be Raphael's buddy?"

Kobe nodded slowly. He knew there was no resisting. His fate was sealed the moment he chose to sit by himself.

Raphael was pushed next to Kobe; he beamed at Kobe expectingly. "Hello! Will you push me whilst I'm at school? I tried getting a servant to, but the principal said that they could just assign a student to me."

He hated him already. "All... all day? But what if I want to hang out with my friends? What if-"

"Raphael's mother will also be speaking during a special assembly today," Mr. Baudet continued, ignoring Kobe's outcry. "Regarding yesterday's events, and how her company is willing to support the school in financial-"

At the back, Flo rolled her eyes. Looks like Raphael was a rich boy. One of the bad ones. She hated him already. His mother must've paid her way into getting him in.

Soon after Mr. Baudet finished his boring speech, the class were led to another boring speech. Raphael had a grin on his face; it was his mother that was going to speak, after all. 

Kobe wasn't pleased with pushing him the way there. Veronique heard Kobe grumble about how he was 'too heavy' for a boy his age. She put it down to the books Raphael was carrying in his backpack, which was hanging from the side of his wheelchair.

When everyone was finally settled, a purple-haired woman walked onto the stage. It was obvious that this woman was Raphael's mother (because who else had purple hair in here?). She waved to the audience and pressed a remote button.

The board behind her lit up. The Miraculous Six all gasped aloud. On it was an image of the heroes from the day before. It was from a news report, so it was a little blurry.

"Hey, everyone!" she greeted, "My name is Sophia Andre. I know a lot of you are worried about the emergence of The Miraculous Six, so I'm here to reassure you about any doubts. Interestingly, similar vigilantes have been seen twenty years ago..."

Sophia clicked the button again. The slideshow changed, showing heroes in similar outfits. The picture was a little dated (obviously), but the miraculous animals were the same. 

"Here is an image of the similar heroes I was talking about - named Teen Miraculous. I... believe that's a pun on 'Team', but that's just me," she chuckled, "After this team encountered a villain known as Python face-to-face, the team disappeared. Interestingly, another person surfaced during this time. Whilst there are no pictures, this person has been described wearing a wyvern-like outfit, similar to the people seen here."

Bruno was falling asleep. He was never one for assemblies like this. Admittedly, he should've been paying attention. But Veronique would always sum it up for him later. 

"If you encounter this person, make sure to stay clear and take pictures - if you can!" Sophia grinned widely, "We believe - um, our company, that is - that this person may be linked to the appearance of these new vigilantes. However, like everyone pictured here, we know nothing about their everyday lives."

Percy shuffled uncomfortably. He leaned over to Bianca and whispered, "Er, what does she do for a living again? She's not exactly a police officer..."

Bianca glared and gestured for him to keep listening. She was glued to every word Sophia was saying. 

"In any case... please, stay clear from these people. If twenty years ago was any indication, their battles will only intensify," Sophia continued, "We'll be helping the police in identifying these vigilantes. Our technology is sure to help!"

Flo didn't want to listen to anymore of the obvious advertising. Judging by the next slide, Sophia was going to spend the rest of the time talking about her company's technology and how it would be useful. She felt sick just thinking about how they were trying to catch her. Saving the world wasn't a bad thing, was it?

Nevertheless, she excused herself from the assembly and darted for the closest toilet. When she was inside, she opened her bag, freeing her kwami, Kaliis. 

"Was all of that true?" Flo asked them, "You know, about the heroes from twenty years ago?"

Kaliis nodded reluctantly. "Us kwamis have been around for generations! It's no surprise that you're not my first holder... but I can't tell you anything about the previous holders - even the current ones."

Flo frowned. This was going to get annoying. "But that would help us, surely? Why can't you tell me their names?"

"I'll show you!" huffed Kaliis, "The previous owner of the butterfly miraculous was-" before Kaliis could finish, they coughed, a plume of smoke exiting their mouth. Flo got the idea - Kaliis physically couldn't tell her anything.

"We'll have to go over this later," huffed Flo, "You have a lot of explaining to do. We can start with Mrs. Andre's PowerPoint - you need to provide me with further context."

Kaliis nodded slowly. They weren't too sure if they could actually shed light on anything shown - but they didn't want to disappoint Flo. 

——

It was break. Kobe had spent the entire day wheeling Raphael around. He was exhausted. Unlike Kobe, Raphael was spending the day with his new friend - Claudine.

Kobe had asked her if she could wheel Raphael around instead, since they were chatting together. It wasn't out of the question, was it? In the end, she gave him a weird look and declined. Over and over. It was getting ridiculous now.

Raphael was positioned at the end of the bench, with Claudine sitting next to him. Kobe was sat at the other end, laying his head back. 

"Your mom is pretty cool, hmm?" Claudine asked him, leaning back on the bench. "Tell me about her... she didn’t tell us much about her company. What does it even do?”

“Um... I try not to involve myself with their work,” Raphael told her, “They just build new technologies and sell it. I don’t understand why they’re so interested in these weird vigilantes. Maybe they just want to find out what powers them and... copy it.”

Kobe wanted to scream about how he wasn’t a vigilante. He was a hero, like the others. They didn’t kill anyone. That means they’re not bad... right?

He didn’t want to listen to their conversation further. They started to talk about schoolwork - one of the most boring topics ever. Claudine didn’t seem to know how to make a friend if she decided that schoolwork was a good topic to talk about.

His phone pinged. A text message. It was an automated one - from a restaurant chain known as Kudos. Also known as Kobe’s place to go whenever he was avoiding his father. It was known for it’s cheap meals and amazing servers. Kobe cared about the first part. He wasn’t a creep. 

_‘It’s three-for-two day! Bring two friends with you and get a meal for free! Offer valid only for today!’_ the text message read.

Two friends? Kobe would have to think. Flo would hate the idea of going to Kudos - she assumed that Kobe went to look at the servers. He wasn’t going to invite Raphael and Claudine, of course.

He scanned the schoolyard in hopes of finding someone else. Veronique seemed too posh for this sort of thing. Bianca... had lots of siblings to take care of after school. He didn’t really know a lot about Talora, and didn’t want to seem weird by randomly inviting her out to eat.

There was Bruno and Percy. He did a group project with them once. Bruno would come as long as Kobe would pay for it - the free meal would have to go to him. He would go if there was food (and, secretly, he liked looking at the servers). Percy really needed to socialise with them every once in a while, so he was sure that he would come. Even if he just sat there on his phone. 

The final bell rang. Only one more lesson to go. He would have to ask the two during lesson time. Meanwhile, he had an annoying brat to push. 

Surprisingly, Bruno and Percy said yes immediately. It was more surprising for Percy - apparently, Bianca had complained about his lack of socialisation, so he was going to try and start now. Their relationship sounded... fun.

As soon as school was out, the three of them headed towards Kudos. Bruno was the most talkative of them all. No surprise there.

“So, we gonna get a male or female server?” Bruno asked the group, “I could go either way, myself. Last time I had a male one... he was so handsome!”

Percy hesitated before answering. “U-Um... if you don’t mind... then surely the most logical answer would be to go for the gender that’s there the most? Then, that way, we’ll get served the quickest... if that makes any sense.”

“No, it does,” agreed Kobe, “I don’t want to be sitting there waiting ages for the only female server to take our order. Besides, knowing Bruno, he would’ve decided what he would’ve wanted already.”

“Sure have!” grinned Bruno, “Since’s it’s free... I think I’m gonna get the all day breakfast brunch. Poached eggs. Breakfast food is just the best!”

“I was gonna have a toasted sandwich,” Percy said after a moment’s thought, “It comes with fries and a salad, and it’s cheaper then most of the stuff for what you get. I don’t know if I should get cheese and bacon or tuna yet...”

“I was gonna get a burger myself,” Kobe exclaimed, “Chicken burger, extra bacon! That’s me! One day I’ll be strong enough to take on the mega burger challenge... well, more like one day I’ll have enough money to do so.”

“That’s the gigantic burger, isn’t it?” Bruno asked him, “Stack upon stack of meat, cheese, bacon... that could feed me for a month! I’d rather take it home than eat it all.”

It didn’t take them long to reach Kudos. It was only a five minute walk from the school - part of what made it so popular with people their age. Kudos was practically everywhere in Paris. 

Being just after school, it was a little busy. But it didn’t take long for them to be seated. It also didn’t take long for them to decide on what they wanted, since they had discussed it on the way over. 

Percy looked at the various servers that were working today. “Okay... there’s more female servers than male working today. We’re going with the female card.”

Kobe nodded and placed the red card on their table. It would tell the servers that they wanted a female to take their order. It... wasn’t that creepy, he thought over and over. The entire restaurant was about giving each other compliments. That’s all. Nothing weird about that. 

Bruno beamed as a female server with red hair approached their table. “Hi, guys! I’m Colette, your waitress today! Have you cuties decided on your order?” she asked them.

If only their dining experience ended on a positive note for Colette...


	5. Big Trouble In Little Paris

Kobe told Colette what the group wanted to eat. Percy would've been too shy to speak up, and Bruno was far too distracted by the sight of the food nearby. It was heaven to him. 

Percy cleared his throat. The awkwardness had begun. "So... um... h-how's school? Is it nice? Bad? Anything exciting going on...?"

"You're speaking like a parent, Percy," Bruno rolled his eyes. He had hoped to spend the rest of the time enjoying food in peace. "Aren't you a bit out of your league here? I thought you spend your time hanging out with Bianca."

"Bianca has to take care of her siblings. She doesn't really have time to hang out outside of school," he blushed, "She... she wouldn't want to hang out with me, anyway..."

"Apart from those new superheroes, life is pretty boring," shrugged Kobe, "Almost makes me wish I was them, you know? Imagine how cool it would be!" he was trying his best to hide his secret identity, even if he could feel his kwami rustling about in his bag.

"Yeah, but it would get annoying. You'd have to be called away to help, no matter what you were doing," Bruno explained, "Like... oh, Colette over there, for example. She looks happy."

The boys glanced over to their server. Colette was talking to an older man, roughly just after school leaving age. What? Kobe was trying his best. 

The man was raising his voice - they were having an argument. Curious, Kobe perked his ears up so he could listen to their conversation. 

"You said we were going to mine after work!" The man argued, "Come on, sweet cheeks..."

Colette huffed before responding. "I'm tired, okay? I want to go home after my shift and sleep."

"Trouble in paradise?" Bruno chuckled as they watched the argument. "We, uh, really shouldn't be watching this, though. They're causing a scene."

Whilst Bruno was talking, the argument began to escalate. Not wanting to draw further attention to herself, Colette headed for the door, dragging the man with her. 

"Just leave me alone, already!" cried Colette, "Get out of here! I don't want to be with you anymore!"

Unsurprisingly, the man didn't seem to like that. He grabbed Colette's wrist, squeezing on her skin tight. "Don't you dare speak to me like that! Where are you going, anyway?"

"Away from you!" Colette screamed into his face and kicked the man's shin. He let go, allowing Colette to bolt out of the door and run into the street outside. 

Immediately, the man ran after her, slamming the door wide open. Percy jumped out of his chair and pointed to the door. 

"Come on, you two! We have to help her!" Percy exclaimed, dragging Bruno out of his seat. "The Miraculous Six won't sort out things like this. It's up to us!"

Kobe and Bruno were surprised by Percy's sudden outburst. He was usually the quiet kid that sat at the back of the class. Nevertheless, they agreed; they jumped out of their seats and ran out of the door. At least they didn't dine and dash. 

"Where did they go?!" Kobe asked the group, spinning around in confusion. "Percy, did you at least take note of where she ran off to...?"

Percy nodded and pointed to the west. "Here! Down the alley! If we run fast enough, we might be able to break up the argument... before it gets any worse."

The three boys ran in the direction that Percy was pointing at. Their feet pounded against the pavement; all three of them wished they could transform right about now. It would be better on their feet.

"There he is!" Bruno yelled, pointing towards the end of the alley. He could just make out a shadow of a man running down it. "Hah.. I've never ran so hard in my life..."

"Hey, dummy!" Kobe exclaimed, "We've got something to say to you... why don't you slow down, huh?" 

Surprisingly, the man stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to face the three boys and grinned. "Who the hell are you? Can't you just leave me alone?" 

"Leave you alone? Not after how you treated Colette," Percy scoffed, "We've come to teach you a lesson.. uh, I think..."

——

Meanwhile, Colette was hiding in a dead end. She was sobbing - as quiet as you could sob, at least. Her negative emotions were as strong as ever.

This was good news for Medusa. She could feel the negative emotions from her base. It made possession all the more easier. As long as she had an idea on what to do with them, things would work out for her.

Medusa hopped down from the roof she was standing on and onto a nearby stairwell. It was used for an emergency exit - she's just had to hope that there wouldn't be any emergencies. 

"Hey there, sweetie... feeling upset?" Medusa taunted Colette, "I can make everything better. Just trust me... listen to my harp."

Colette rubbed her eyes and looked up at her. "Hmm? Who... who are you? Are you part of the Miraculous Six?"

"The Miraculous six? As if!" Medusa scoffed as she reached for her harp, "My name is Medusa. You're going to help me get their miraculouses. Now... Poisoned Command!" 

Medusa threw her harp up in the air and caught it by the edges. She played a haunting tune that completely mesmerised Colette. A black shadow completely covered her, the possession complete. 

——

Percy, Bruno and Kobe were distracted. They had gotten themselves into a full-blown argument with the man that was harassing Colette. If they had resolved this, perhaps they would've caught up with Colette and met Medusa. Perhaps they would've even stopped the possession from happening. 

They were interrupted by the arrival of the newest possessed victim. Colette jumped down from the rooftops, her Kudos uniform replaced by a punk outfit. Her hair reminded Bruno of the wacky punk hairstyles from the 70's.

"Ethan! I've come to put an end to your bratty ways once and for all," 'Colette' commanded, "I don't think a lot of people will miss you, all the way up in space... I, Disruptor, will be your downfall!"

Ethan looked up to Colette and frowned. "Uh, babe? What the hell are you doing? Since when did you get time to get changed?"

"Get out of the way!" Kobe warned Ethan, leaping towards him. "There must've been another possession... dammit!"

Disruptor leapt towards Ethan and pointed her fist towards him. Upon further inspection, Bruno noticed the presence of a large, ruby ring on her finger. It was mesmerising, in a way.

Out of instinct, he shoved Ethan out of the way, narrowly avoiding a burst of light from Disruptor's ring. He had no idea what it was, but he wasn't going to wait around to find out. There was also the matter of needing to transform - which he couldn't do around witnesses. 

Percy shoved Ethan out onto the street. "Get out of here. Hide. Wait for the Miraculous Six to show up. They'll help you."

"Uh, sure...?" Ethan grumbled as he bolted towards a nearby restaurant. He didn't seem to understand what exactly was going on, or how much danger he was in. 

Disruptor huffed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The boys looked around widely, wondering where she went. At least it was more creative than a clown on a cloud.

Percy backed away slowly, eager to transform. He saw a fire exit door, partially propped open. Without looking into the building he was in, he rushed inside, finding a nice storage room to his right. The perfect place to transform. 

His kwami, Claww, flew out of his pocket. "Master, it's happened again, I'm sure of it! We have to help Ethan, before it's too late. Even if he is a nasty piece of work..." they mumbled.

He nodded. "Yeah. Now... let’s not waste anymore time. Claww, take flight!” Percy called out, activating his transformation.

——

Now Talonarrow, he burst out of the fire exit and hopped onto the roof. Bruno and Kobe were gone. They must’ve fled, he thought. 

Using his wings, he managed to leap over far distances (admittedly, he found it a bit fun. He made a mental note to practice more of this later). There was a crowd of people rushing out of the entrance Ethan had ran into; Disruptor’s location was confirmed.

“Hey! This is the Miraculous Six,” Talonarrow cried out to Disruptor, “Stop what you’re doing immediately, Colette. This isn’t going to teach him anything.”

Disruptor poked her head out of the window and smirked. “Oh? And who says that? You’re just a boy dressed like an eagle. I’m not listening to you.”

Coyote and Loupe landed next to him, slightly out of breath. Talonarrow was a little surprised at their sudden appearance; Disruptor hadn’t done much other than exist for a few minutes. 

As the two landed, Disruptor suddenly cried out in pain. She held her head, screeching loudly. The trio stepped back, insure at what was causing the sudden pain.

She stopped screaming and jumped out of the window, landing in front of them. Her expression held no emotion. Something... odd had happened.

“Give me your miraculous, and no one gets hurt,” Disruptor said in a monotone voice, “For Medusa... I will hand the miraculous over to her.”

“Medusa again,” Coyote rolled his eyes, “Perhaps this has something to do with the possession...”

“Forget that!” Loupe argued, “We’re not giving you our miraculous. Downcast didn’t try this... she must’ve realised...”

Whilst the boys were talking, the girls arrived. Monarch and Minette wrapped their weapons - a whip and a ribbon - around Disruptor, keeping her in place. Cottontail came up behind Disruptor and hit her on the side with her (overly-sized) hammer. 

Disruptor, along with Monarch and Minette, were launched halfway across the street. No thanks to Cottontail, of course. She was only trying to help.

Monarch hit the ground and grazed her cheek. “Hey-! Cottontail! What the hell was that about? You could’ve warned us...”

“Don’t worry about that for now,” Minette reminded her, “We need to find Disruptor’s weak spot before things get out of hand.”

Whilst the two of them were recovering, Disruptor pointed her ring at Monarch. “I’ll get rid of you... how does the desert of Egypt sound?” she teased, her ring powering up.

“She gets the power through the ring-! But we need a physical spot,” Cottontail realised, diving out of the way of her ring. “Just don’t get caught in the light...”

Before the ring had a chance to power up, the pain hit Disruptor once again. She held her head in pain, her legs bucking under her weight. 

“As I thought...” sighed Talonarrow, “Medusa wouldn’t want us to be teleported to Egypt. She would have no chance of getting our miraculous. I’d say that that’s Medusa overriding the controls.”

Talonarrow seemed to be correct. When Disruptor stood up again, her expression was once again emotionless. “Your miraculous... give it to me... or there will be casualties...” she mumbled.

“C-Casualties? Sounds pleasant,” grunted Loupe, “Look, you need to get it into your head that we won’t be doing that. And you can’t teleport us too far away, soo... I say... we have to fight it out. Again.”

Not wanting to wait, Coyote charged at Disruptor. He raised his claws at her in attack, forgetting that the ring was close to being charged up. 

The beam of light went off, hitting Coyote square in the chest. He disappeared in an instant, reappearing high in the sky, above from where he was running.

“Coyote-!” Minette gasped, pointing to the sky, “She’s going to kill us! Cottontail, quick! Use your power!”

Cottontail nodded. “Bound away,” she whispered, jumping upwards into the sky. She caught Coyote in the sky, bridal style. He looked as embarrassed as she expected.

“Get ready for a fight,” Monarch commanded, “And... please, don’t be an idiot like Coyote. I don’t want any of us to end up on the pavement in a pile of... guts.”


	6. You’re Wondering Who I Am

Monarch sighed in relief as Coyote was placed safely onto the ground. Unfortunately, Cottontail's power was now used up. According to Kaliis, this power used energy that would be depleted in a child or a new miraculous user after one use. After a while, the user would be forced to detransform to allow the kwami time to recharge. 

Short answer - Cottontail was running out of time before she had to flee. 

Talonarrow loaded up an arrow on his bow and fired it towards Disruptor. He wasn't used to firing a bow, so his first shot missed. Sighing, he loaded the bow up again to take another shot.

Whilst he was distracted with his weapon, Disruptor turned her attention to him. She extended her arm out and began to charge up her ring, getting ready for another blast. 

"Talonarrow! Look out!" Minette called out to her teammate. "Ah, rats... scurry!" she activated her special power, user her supersonic speed to run towards Talonarrow. Just in the nick of time, she pushed him out of the way of the blast. 

The blast hit a bin behind them, sending it soaring into the sky. The rubbish inside was thrown across the sky, littering the streets of Paris. Right now, it was hardly an important thing to worry about.

Monarch rolled her eyes. If they kept using their powers at this rate, they wouldn't be able to finish the fight. 

"Look, why don't we use our powers to actually restrain the girl?" Coyote recommenced, "Or, you know... our actual weapons!" He was about to charge at Disruptor before he looked down at his claws. 

"No use using short-range weapons," shrugged Loupe, "She'll just blast us when we get close, and it'll be harder to manoeuvre them the closer we get to her."

Cottontail looked at her comedically oversized hammer and shrugged. "Looks like I can't use this, then..."

"Talonarrow, Minette and I will focus on attacking," Monarch instructed, "Coyote, Loupe, Cottontail... cover us. I don't want any more incidents, okay?"

"Who put you in charge?" Coyote snarled, avoiding another hit from Disruptor. She had started to fire randomly at them, missing each time due to their increased agility. 

Monarch didn't bother to respond. She sent her whip hurtling towards Disruptor, managing to take ahold of her right arm. The one without the ring on it.

Luckily, Minette seemed to have a good idea of what she was trying to do. Like Monarch, she sent her ribbon towards Disruptor, successfully catching Disruptor's left arm. There was resistance, of course. Minette had to tug with all of her might just to keep her steady.

"Let... let go of me!" Disruptor grunted, continuing to pull at her restraints. Her ring continued firing randomly, although Minette had angled her arm upwards, so the only thing she managed to hit was a stray lamp post. It crashed onto the ground nearby. 

"Get the ring!" Talonarrow ordered. "Now... Feathered Gale!" As he activated his power, wind rushed around the hero. His wings caught the air, shooting him into the sky. Carefully, he flew towards Disruptor's ring, extending his hand out to grab it from her finger.

Meanwhile, Cottontail and Minette heard an ominous beep from their miraculous. Three beeps. Once it reached one, they would detransform. Their identities would be revealed.

At the same time Talonarrow grabbed Disruptor's ring, Loupe made a charge for her. There had to be an inflamed spot that he could use to free her of her possession. His eyes scanned her closely.

"Got it!" Talonarrow cried simultaneously as he grabbed the ring from Disruptor's finger. He then proceeded to crash into a tree, too excited to control his flight path. At least he had the ring.

"T-Talonarrow! Are you alright?!" Cottontail exclaimed, running over to help fish Talonarrow out of his tree. She had to climb the tree to reach him, but she had been doing that for a long time now. It wasn't anything new. 

"Loupe, you dolt!" nagged Monarch as she rolled her eyes, "Look at her thigh. It's inflamed! Hit her there!"

Nodding, Loupe gently placed his hand on Disruptor's thigh, a little embarrassed by it all. He only did it because he could feel Monarch's glare from behind him. She was scary.

A black mist covered Disruptor as she fell to her knees. Minette and Monarch released her restraints. After a few moments, it cleared, and Colette was back to her old self again. She glanced up at the heroes and slumped into unconsciousness.

Cottontail had finally pulled Talonarrow out of the tree. Her miraculous beeped again - two beeps. "Uh, Minette, we should get going," she suggested, "Can we let you guys clear up?"

"I'll take her home," Coyote announced, picking Colette up. "I... I'll figure it out. Where she lives, I mean. Maybe she'll wake up."

"Good luck," Minette smiled softly, "I'll, um, see you guys later... we should meet up-"

"Yeah, no. Bad idea," Monarch argued, "Just... go home. Stay safe. We can't let each other know about our secret identities."

\-----

Coyote got out of there before Monarch started an argument. Specifically, he got out of there before anyone realised that he knew where Colette worked. Where this all started. He placed her on a bench and waited for her to wake up.

Sure enough, Colette woke up. "Mm...? Oh! It's... it's you! We're supposed to stay away from you! What were you doing to me?"

He rolled his eyes. There was a sneaking feeling that he knew who had said that. "Uh... hi. I'm Coyote, part of The Miraculous Six. We're simply here to protect you," he explained, "You were possessed by a villain named Medusa, but it's alright. You didn't hurt anyone. They pretty much fled when they saw us."

"I... I see," Colette mumbled, "I think I vaguely remember some of that. There was a woman in a weird snake outfit. Called herself Medusa. She told me... no, I can't remember. Sorry."

"It's alright," Coyote assured her, "You take care go yourself, now. Try to run away if we're around, too. We wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Colette nodded and stood up. “I think I’ll go and lock my front door. Thanks, anyway... I’ll try to avoid snakes from now on.”

————

“Wabbi, hop off.”

Bianca Riley detransformed and jumped straight into her bed. She needed some peace and quiet to talk to Wabbi. And some general peace and quiet.

Wabbi flew out of her miraculous and floated next to her eyeline. “Is there something you wanna ask of me, Bianca?” they asked her.

“Mm,” she nodded, “I... do you think I was good around Talonarrow today? I helped him and stuff... do you think he’ll like me now?”

For a few seconds, Wabbi didn’t respond. They just stared at Bianca. “Um. That’s what you wanted to ask about? Not anything about the miraculous?” they stuttered, in shock. 

“Well, I guess I could ask more about the miraculous,” Bianca shrugged, “Uh... what’s the big deal behind the ‘no one should know about our identities’ thing?”

“Usually, if an identity is revealed, they’d have to hand their miraculous over,” Wabbi began, resting on Bianca’s pillow. “It’s dangerous, you see... if you’re possessed, you could tell Medusa about the identities of your teammates, for example. That would put you and your families in danger... so that’s why the guardian usually collects your miraculous when that happens.”

She stared at the kwami with wide eyes. “G... Guardian? Can I... can I meet this guardian?” she questioned, “Please? Pretty please? We might get along!”

“I can’t tell you that, silly!” Wabbi giggled, “It would be like telling you who the others are! And I physically can’t do that. The guardian needs to remain hidden, anyway, for the same reasons as I just explained. What do you think snake girl would do with the Guardian miraculous? It would be disastrous!”

“I guess so... it’s just upsetting, that’s all,” she frowned, “I thought I made some new friends, and now I find out that I can’t see any of them... what sick joke is this, huh?”

“You have me!” Wabbi exclaimed, “You’ve made at least one new friend out of all of this, Bianca... so don’t worry, okay?”

Before Bianca could respond, some of her siblings burst into the room. Wabbi quickly hid underneath her pillow as one of them threw herself into Bianca’s arms.

_“Play time! Play time!”  
“Biancaaaa! I’m hungryyy!” _

She rolled her eyes. Maybe she could find some time to talk to Wabbi later. Right now, she had to play big sister.

—————

Alexandre was watching the news once more. As the guardian, it was in his name to keep an eye on things. He would’ve gotten out there himself if he wasn’t too afraid. 

“Master, we need some form of currency!” his kwami, Adder, cried. “We can’t keep relying on the money you keep ‘finding’. You know how dangerous this is.”

He was too busy watching the news to reply. When he saw Minette and Loupe, he couldn’t help but to smile. 

Adder huffed and flew in front of the TV. “Are you listening to me? You need a job or something! We can’t live in this abandoned place forever!”

“I kinda like it, though,” Alexandre grinned, “We’ve spruced this place up quite a bit. No one has come to bother us. We’re safe.”

“You can’t just... stay in here forever,” the kwami replied, “Master... I know you’re worried about our enemies, but they won’t know what you look like. That’s the magic of the miraculous.”

“I just wish we could do something about them now,” he sighed, “But... we have to wait until the others have grown stronger. I just want to return...”

Adder sat in the palm of Alexandre’s hand. “I know,” they looked up to him and smiled, “You told me about your life back there. Are you... are you missing him? Your boyfriend?” 

Alexandre nodded slowly. “Yes... Cyrille. That’s his name. When I told him I had to leave, I could tell he was upset... but he understood. I think. Technically, to him, I wouldn’t have been gone for very long. But for me... how long will I have to keep this up? I just want to go home...”

“You know we can’t leave here. It’s dangerous to time travel now, especially with how volatile this timeline is,” Adder told him simply, “I told you, getting a job can be useful. It can take your mind off of things.”

“A job? Ha!” Alexandre scoffed, shaking his head. “I haven’t got any ID. Or references. They’ll think I’m an illegal immigrant or something. And you know they don’t exactly... Ah, what am I saying? I wouldn’t get any rights here. I’d have to go to England just so I wouldn’t get thrown out of the country straight away. Please don’t make me go to England.”

“Our mission would be... difficult to accomplish in a different country,” noted Adder, “We’re not stealing from people. We can’t rely on other people to help us, since our enemy could be...”

“Sounds like our only option is to use money that I’ve kept! I’m not an idiot - I’ll have to use currency that’s actually valid here,” Alexandre grinned once more, “Luckily, I know my father collected the old currency before it got switched over. He liked the old Euros. I’m sure he won’t mind us taking some to allow us to complete this mission.”

Adder nodded and flew towards the nearby wall. “Right! I say it’s time we go over future events that we can’t interrupt,” the kwami announced, grabbing a small piece of chalk. “We can’t change too much whilst we’re around here. Luckily, I know some of the events that we can’t ever interrupt. That includes the forming of terrible ideas, before you ask.”

“I know, I know,” he mumbled, “This isn’t new to me, despite what you know. I’ve been through this big speech once already... they don’t exactly allow any idiot to handle the guardian miraculous.”

The kwami was surprised. Alexandre had always been... different from the other guardians. Maybe now they were starting to see why. Just what adventures did he get up to before he met Adder?


	7. High School Cheerscreamer

Cheerleading tryouts. That was the main source of gossip for today. Veronique, Bianca, Bruno, Talora and Claudine had all gathered in the gym to watch, or take part. 

"Are you sure you don't want to participate, Veronique?" Bruno asked his classmate. He had dragged her here for lunch, since it was going to be more exciting than just sitting around in the cafeteria. 

Veronique shook her head firmly. "I am an actress! Not a cheerleader! Unless this is an audition for a part, I will not be joining."

"Eh, Percy and Flo said the same thing," Bianca sighed, "They said boys could try out, but Bruno is the only guy here! And he's only here to watch!"

Claudine skipped over to the group with a pleasing grin. "Talora, your turn! They liked my audition so much... I think I'll get in the team...!"

Talora took a deep breath and marched towards the stage. It was at the insistence of a child that she was even here right now. She didn't think she was going to get it. What was the point in trying?

Everyone in the gym sat patiently as they watched Talora's audition. There was a few chuckles whenever she misstepped or almost fell over her own feet. However, the worst seemed to be coming from the judge's themselves.

In fact, one of them raised their hand to stop the audition early. "I... think we've seen enough, thank you. Perhaps you should learn to walk before you become a cheerleader."

"How horrible!" Bianca hissed, "Who do they think they are, saying that to the poor girl? Why, I'll...!"

Talora nodded slowly before walking off the stage. It seemed like she wasn't going to react - until Bianca noticed the tears beginning to stream down her face. She ran off in a fit of tears, slamming the door behind her.

The group left behind (Veronique, Bruno and Bianca) now that the auditions were over stood still. They did want to help. Truly, they did. But admittedly, none of them knew Talora that well. 

"M-Maybe we should at least try to comfort her," Veronique suggested, "Bianca and I can go..."

Before they could get up, however, the windows burst open in front of them. They hissed as the shards narrowly missed their skin, ducking down beneath the benches.

Bianca snuck a glance at the intruder to see Talora, dressed in a cheerleader's outfit, holding a megaphone. "You WILL let me in the cheerleading team!" 'Talora' announced, "I, Cheerscreamer, say so!"

In a rush to get out, Bruno yanked Veronique's arm and pulled her outside of the room. He needed to transform, but he needed to find a safe place first. For both him and Veronique.

"B-Bruno-! You left Bianca behind!" Veronique argued, "We can't just... h-hey-! Where are you taking me?!"

Bruno opened a broom closet and shoved Veronique inside. "Stay here until the Miraculous Six have sorted this out. I can't have you getting hurt..."

"Where will you go?" Veronique questioned him, not liking her new home. 

"Boy's toilets." Bruno shrugged, glancing at the location in question. Kobe had ran inside, seemingly having the same idea. 

He shut the door on Veronique, leaving her alone to talk with her kwami. On queue, Squeek flew out of her bag and hovered next to her.

"Time to transform," Veronique whispered to them, "Squeek... Whiskers alert!"

Minette burst out of the door and ran straight for the gym. Hopefully, Cheerscreamer would still be there. Otherwise, she'd have to go looking. 

When she arrived in the gym, Cottontail, Coyote and Loupe were all there, attempting to fight Cheerscreamer. Their 'leader', Monarch, had yet to arrive, along with Talonarrow.

"Ah, Minette! Just in time!" Loupe grinned at her, "So, we've discovered a few things. One, we're all gonna need some earplugs."

"She screams... really loudly!" Cottontail whined, "Even Loupe can't scream that loud - his special ability is useless!"

Right on the nick of time, Monarch hoped down from the railings above. "Thanks for that summary, Cottontail. From now on, I'll remember to bring earplugs..."

"Silence!" Cheerscreamer... screamed through her megaphone. "You WILL give me your miraculous! For Medusa..."

Talonarrow swooped into the room, launching an arrow towards Cheerscreamer. "Yeah, no thanks. I'd like to keep this up for a little while yet."

The arrow hit Cheerscreamer square in the chest as she dropped her megaphone in shock. Seeing a chance, Coyote dived for the megaphone, his ears already hurting. He had only been here for a minute or two. Everyone in Paris must've been hearing her.

Monarch extended out her whip and held Cheerscreamer's leg in place. She tripped up on the whip, her chin slamming against the ground. "Break the damn thing, Coyote!" She commanded.

Coyote cheered as he grabbed the megaphone. "Finally! Maybe she'll finally shut up now," he grumbled as he threw the megaphone against the wall. It broke apart into tiny pieces, blowing away into a puff of smoke.

Cottontail raised her hammer and ran towards Cheerscreamer. "This might be the quickest one yet!" She grinned in excitement, "Now, where's that weak spot...?"

Before she could get a chance to look, Cheerscreamer let out a cry of anguish. Even without her megaphone, it was as loud as before. Cottontail dropped her hammer to cover her ears - the source of the deafening screams was her voice itself, not the megaphone.

"H-Here I thought we had it," Minette sighed, "I really do think we should get some earplugs... does anyone mind if I go shopping?"

Gasping, Monarch looked towards Minette with wide eyes. "That... that actually might work! Minette, Coyote, fetch us all some earplugs! We'll try to keep her here."

Coyote nodded and ran towards Minette. "Hey, use your special power. We can get this done quicker," he told her.

"Alright, but we better finish this quick... if not, I'll have to step away to allow my kwami to recharge," Minette mumbled, wrapping her arm around Coyote's waist. "Scurry!" She cried, activating her special power.

The two of them sped towards the nearest shop, finding it to be deserted. Coyote tried his best not to look at the brand new technology before him. 

"Isn't this sort of stealing?" Minette wondered as she grabbed a packet of earplugs. "We don't exactly have any money..."

Coyote winced as he heard another scream. "They'll understand. Leave them a note," he instructed her, glancing at the other wares. "Wait... Wait a second..."

"Hm?" Minette responded. "You're not thinking of taking a new phone, are you? Do I really have to remind you-"

"No, no! Nothing like that," Coyote grabbed her attention by waving a piece of tape in front of her. "Why don't we just... tape over her mouth? She can't scream then. It's a genius plan, I must say."

"Yes, but then she'll scream or react when she sees the tape," Minette reminded him, "Or have you forgotten that it's almost impossible to get the jump on her?"

Coyote held the tape in one hand and pointed at it with the other. "Perception," he commanded, activating his special power and making the tape invisible. 

"Ohhh!" Minette finally realised, "I get it! Now she won't be able to see it! You, uh... better not lose it yourself, though."

"Just get us out of here before I do," he told her, putting the earplugs in. "I think I heard Monarch use her special power. Bet we'll run in to see Cheerscreamer floating or something."

They returned to the gym to see that Coyote was right. Cheerscreamer was floating up towards the ceiling, screaming her head off. Minette quickly passed the earplugs around, allowing the others to be able focus on the battle.

"Can you get her down for me, Cottontail?" Coyote asked his teammate, gesturing towards Cheerscreamer. He stopped speaking when he realised that Cottontail probably couldn't hear him.

Luckily, Cottontail seemed to have gotten the idea. "Bound away," she murmured, jumping up high and grabbing Cheerscreamer. She brought her down to the ground, struggling to keep ahold of her.

Talonarrow, Monarch and Loupe rushed to help hold Cheerscreamer down. They each grabbed one limb, although they were struggling to keep her still. Even with their increased strength. 

Coyote held the tape in his hands and ran towards Cheerscreamer. He had spent the time before making it invisible finding the end - something that was paying off here. The tape covered Cheerscreamer's mouth, silencing her for now.

Cottontail burst out into laughter, presumably at the fact that the tape was invisible. It was a sight to see, but they had other things to worry about right now. 

Minette scanned for the inflamed area on Cheerscreamer. Eventually, her eyes gravitated towards her neck. Of course it would be there. She stretched her hand out and tapped it lightly. 

Rolling his eyes, Coyote tapped the inflamed area with a bit more force. Sure enough, it seemed to work. Dark molecules covered Cheerscreamer, evaporating to reveal the sweet Talora underneath. 

Talonarrow sighed in relief as the six of them backed away from her, giving her room to breathe. "You okay...?" He asked Talora with a smile.

Talora looked around the gym and nodded slowly. "What... what on Earth happened? Where did everybody go?"

"Medusa possessed you," Monarch explained, taking out her earplugs. "But it's okay. We fixed it. I assume the rest of the school is just hiding right now."

"Speaking of," Minette heard a familiar beep on her bow, "We should be going, too. Before we reveal ourselves."

Loupe nodded. "Well, I'll see you next time, guys! I think I'm off to take a nice nap after this... my ears are still ringing," he complained.

The rest of the heroes jumped away, leaving Talora alone in the gym. She was about to get up and go home when she was approached by one of the judges from earlier.

"I saw the whole thing," they told her, "I... I think we're going to reconsider your audition. That's just me, though! I'll talk to the others about it, okay?"

Smiling, Talora nodded slowly. "O... Okay! Thank you... thank you so much!"

——

Raphael rolled his eyes. Kobe, his wheelchair pusher, had ran off when the school first heard about the possession. What else was he supposed to do - push himself?

His frown turned into a smile when he saw Claudine passing by. "Ah-! C-Claudine! Can you... can you help me? Please?"

For some reason, Claudine looked tired. "Hm? What did you want help with, Raphael?" She asked, walking up to him.

"Kobe ran away and left me all alone... can you keep me company until he comes back?" Raphael begged her, "Or... at least until a teacher comes! Then we can tell them about how he left me all alone during a possession."

"I... sure," Claudine agreed, pushing Raphael next to a bench. She sat down on the bench next to him. "Weren’t you hurt during this? Even my ears hurt a little...”

Raphael shook his head. “I’m pretty much okay. I just covered my ears until I saw one of the Miraculous Six run by. I assumed it was okay to stop holding my ears then,” he informed her.

“Yes... I wouldn’t want you getting hurt,” Claudine admitted, “You’re too precious! Besides, your parents would probably be really angry about that, huh?”

“Um... I-I’m not sure,” he mumbled, “It depends how badly I was injured. My legs don’t move, so I don’t think they’d be worried if I got cut there or something. But then again, they’ve started worrying about me more since the accident. A lot more!”

“Accident?” Claudine perked up. She had read everything about Raphael’s parents, yet there was nothing about him having an accident. “What happened?”

Raphael looked away. “Oh, I... I just got in a car crash. That’s all. Um. My legs didn’t move after that. The doctors said my spine... something about my spine. Aha,” he chuckled nervously.

Claudine raised an eyebrow. He was certainly beating around the bush. Perhaps it was because of the trauma? “Well, don’t feel like you have to say anything else about it. I understand...”

She held Raphael’s hand in hers, gazing into his eyes. It was the first time in her life that she’d ever had a proper friend. Huh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talora was created by JiejieNini on AO3!


	8. Brother Like Me

Bianca Riley was falling asleep. She was meant to be helping one of her younger brothers, Leon, with his homework. It was proving to be a strain on her time. What if Paris needed her, Cottontail? She couldn't tell Leon about the reason why she suddenly needed to leave. He wouldn't understand. Plus, it would compromise her secret identity.

"I can do this on my own, Bianca," Leon repeated for the sixth time, "Go upstairs and go on your phone or something."

"I can't," Bianca replied, "Mom and dad want me to help you get this done. No matter how much I wish to do something else, I'm not leaving you until it's done, okay?"

Leon threw down his pen in frustration. "This is stupid! Why can't we just do whatever we want?" He groaned, "I wish I could fulfil your wish, Bianca..."

"Hey, stop getting distracted," Bianca told him, "Come on, question six. We can get through this!"

Leon rolled his eyes and slammed his head down onto the table. "I wanna take a break... I'm gonna go get a snack. Do I deserve a snack at least?" He asked his sister.

"Alright, fine. You can go and get a snack, Leon," Bianca instructed him, "But after that, it's back to homework."

Grinning, Leon ran out of the room. He sped into the kitchen and grounded to a quick halt. The window was open. Someone was here.

Part of him wanted to call Bianca over. But, no. He was an adult now... in four years. If there was an intruder, he could totally sort it out. 

That intruder, however, was Medusa. She was surprised that the boy didn't see her when she was sitting on the counter near the door. He really was just a child.

"Hi, sweetie," giggled Medusa, causing Leon to whirl around. "I heard that you wanted to make everyone happy. I can help you with that..."

Leon tilted his head. "Huh? What do you mean?" He asked her, "How did you know?"

Medusa smirked and threw her harp up into the air. "Poisoned command!" She exclaimed, beginning to play a haunting tune. "Since you like wishes so much, I'll make you my genie... I wish for the miraculouses of those so-called heroes!"

——

There was a rumble in the house. Bianca felt it for sure. Paris didn't get earthquakes, did it? "Leon? Are you okay?" She called out to her brother, standing up from her chair. 

The room began to flood with a thick smoke. Instinctively, she reached for her miraculous as she coughed her guts out. Was there a fire? Or was it something else?

It was definitely something else. The smoke gathered into one pile, and Leon emerged from it. He was hovering in the air like some mystical being. "I've come to grant your wish, Bianca!" Leon said with glee, "I'm Genie! I can grant your wishes... all you have to do is wish for it!"

Bianca shook her head in denial. It was Medusa. She had done this to her brother. "No... Leon, this isn't you!" She exclaimed, "Listen to me... Medusa isn't doing this to help anyone! She just wants to hurt you and take the miraculouses for herself!"

"I'm doing this for you, Bianca," huffed Leon, "You said you wanted a wish. I can give you one... but if that's how it is, I'll just have to prove it to you!"

"Wait, Leon-" Bianca called out to him, but before she can complete her sentence, he had vanished through an open window. Great. 

Her kwami, Wabbi, flew out from under the table. "Bianca! We need to stop him," they urged, "Before he hurts anyone else..."

"You're right," she agreed, grabbing the kwami in her hands. "Wabbi... hop on!"

——

When Cottontail hopped out of the window to follow Genie, she was shocked to see that the chaos had already begun in Paris. Amongst the notable cases, there was: a man flying, one woman driving a race car, and a little girl in a bubble. She couldn't make this up.

She hopped to the next roof and found Loupe, sitting on the edge. "Looks crazy," he mumbled to her, "I saw a weird boy in a cloud. Is that our possession?"

"Yes... Genie, I think Medusa called him," Cottontail told him, "Hopefully the others will be here soon... I don't know how many wishes he can do in a minute, but it seems to be a lot."

Loupe grabbed a nearby poker chip and grinned. He seemed to be slightly out of breath. "Heh. I know what I'd wish for... a million of these babies. Should be enough to pay off my debts," he chuckled. 

Before Cottontail could ask for more information, Talonarrow and Monarch showed up. "Lucky we found you guys," said Monarch, "Good thing we kinda stand out..."

Talonarrow pointed towards Genie, off in the distance. "He's heading for the Eiffel Tower... I hope everyone is ready to climb up it when the elevator isn't working," he warned them.

The grip of Monarch's whip began to beep. Looking down, a small screen had appeared on it for her. "Ah... it's like a phone or something," she realised, "Hey, Minette and Coyote messaged me... Hm. Looks like they're both heading to the Eiffel Tower. Let's head out, gang."

Cottontail huffed as she used her hammer to swing from the lampposts. "Hey, um, guys?" She called out to her teammates, "What are we gonna do about the people that are currently destroying Paris?"

"They should lose their wishes when we defeat Genie," Talonarrow told her with a smile. "It's alright, Cottontail... relax. All we have to do is find the weak spot, remember?"

"Y-Yeah," Cottontail mumbled, a blush in her cheeks. "Thanks, Talonarrow. I know we can do it, with the six of us together..."

"I just hope we find Medusa at some point," groaned Monarch as she landed on another rooftop. "This is getting ridiculous... some of us have things to do in our lives!"

By the time they got to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, Minette and Coyote had already gotten a head start. They both waved at the rest of the team down below.

"Hurry!" Minette called, "We don't know how long he'll stay there... it's better if we keep him in one place, away from where he can hurt people!"

As Cottontail started to climb, she felt a pang in her chest. Leon didn't want to hurt anyone. He just wanted to make them happy. Medusa was just using him. 

Genie appeared to have gotten stronger the first time they met. He was larger - terrifyingly so. How were they supposed to reach his weak spot when he was so big?

They were all surprised to not be out of breath by the time they reached the top platform. Talonarrow had done a good job of transporting people back down the tower, just in case. They had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Genie! Stop this, right now!" Coyote demanded, pointing a finger at him. "You're causing chaos everywhere!"

"I'm not causing chaos... I'm helping people!" Genie argued, "I'm making them happy... I'm just trying to find my sister so I can show her that I mean well. If you linger any more, I'll be forced to take your miraculous..."

"This is... tiring," Loupe grumbled, "Come on, let's just find this weak spot. I have other things to do."

Loupe charged towards Genie, his gauntlets ready. However, it didn't quite go to plan. Genie flew up into the sky, far away from Loupe's reach. All he could do was punch the smoke before him.

“Talonarrow! Can you see where his weak spot is?” Monarch asked her teammate, “I don’t want to waste your special ability... but we might have to in a minute.”

Talonarrow nodded and climbed as high as he could. “Uh... I think it’s on his back!” He helpfully told them, “It’s a little inflamed... we just have to reach it.”

Genie turned towards Talonarrow and charged towards him. He held his hands out and took Talonarrow by surprise, grabbing his mask. “Let’s see if I can guess who you are...” he grinned.

Luckily for Talonarrow, his mask refused to come off. It was glued to his face, no thanks to the magic of his miraculous. “G-Get off of me-!” He shrieked, struggling to grab his bow.

Monarch sent her whip hurtling towards Genie’s back. “Don’t worry, I got this!” She yelled towards Talonarrow. Her whip bounced off his back, doing little other than annoy Genie. It did get him to leave Talonarrow alone, though.

“Draw his attention,” Cottontail hissed towards the others, “I have an idea. Trust me on this.”

Minette waved her ribbon around frantically. “Heyyy! Genie!” She called, “I have a wish! Does that mean you’ll grant it to me, too? Pretty please?”

“Yeah! We all have a wish!” Coyote joined in, “Uh... I wish for a big hammer! Can I have a big hammer!”

It worked. Genie turned around to face the rest of the group. “I don’t know... meanies like you don’t get a wish,” he huffed, “Medusa’s wish is the one I need to grant. Not yours.”

Cottontail snuck behind Genie and grinned. “Bound away,” she whispered as she jumped into the sky, hammer at the ready. 

Talonarrow helpfully pointed out, once again, where the inflamed spot was. He jumped down from the pole he had climbed on and joined the others.

With the force of two suns, Cottontail slammed her hammer down on Genie’s inflamed spot. She fell down, only to be caught by Talonarrow. It left her a blushing mess, so to speak.

Dark particles covered Genie as he sunk back to the ground. The possession was stopped. Leon was back to normal, much to the relief of Cottontail.

“Give him some room,” Minette told the others, “He’s only a boy, huh... I wonder where he lives. He can’t exactly get himself down this tower himself.”

“I’ll take him home,” Cottontail volunteered, picking up Leon. He didn’t say anything - he was unconscious. “I think we all deserve a rest after climbing the Eiffel Tower... shame we can’t tell anyone about it.”

The Miraculous Six waved each other off as they went back to their respective lives. Meanwhile, Cottontail had a full job ahead of her. Descending the Eiffel Tower with her younger brother in tow. Great. Just great.

——

Cottontail snuck into an opened window and placed Leon back in his room. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask about how she knew which room was his. Now to-

“I know you,” said Leon.

Trying not to curse, Cottontail turned to see Leon awake. “Um... Medusa got to you, that’s all. I was just dropping you off,” she chuckled.

“Is Bianca okay?” Leon asked her, “I don’t remember anything...”

“Uh, I think she’s fine,” Cottontail half-lied, “I wouldn’t know, I mean! I’m just a random superhero! That’s all!”

Leon seemed satisfied with her answer. Cottontail used this opportunity to jump out of Leon’s bedroom window and into hers, hoping that no one saw her. “Wabbi, hop off,” she mumbled, detransforming.

Without saying a word to Wabbi, she rushed into Leon’s room. “H-Hey-!” She stuttered, “I saw the news... are you okay? Things went a little crazy...!”

“I-I’m okay,” Leon replied, “I’m just a little... shaken, that’s all. Cottontail was here. She seemed pretty cool. So... at least I met a superhero, I guess.”

Bianca smiled to herself and sat down next to Leon. “Alright, just... don’t scare me like that again,” she begged, “You don’t need to prove yourself to me or anyone. I know you get teased a lot because you’re one of the youngest... but we mean well, Leon!”

“I know,” Leon nodded slowly. “I just... homework’s stupid. I hate it. I hate having to not have fun, too.”

“Well, we’ll just have to have fun once your homework is finished!” Bianca chirped, “Come on, I’ll play Ultimate Mecha Strike III with you once we get your homework done. I promise!”


	9. Rise of the Dead

Medusa bit her lip nervously. The evening sun had begun to settle. During her last possession, she was left a letter, addressed to her. The writer must've been stalking her. How else would they have managed to give her it?

The letter in question read:  
 _'Medusa -  
I can help you. Meet me in the Nacht der Untoten graveyard at 6PM tonight'_

It had no sign-off. Anyone could've sent in. So, here she was. In a stupid graveyard. She didn't even know who or what to look for. Was she even in the right place?

"I didn't think you'd come."

She turned her head to see a boy in a swan-like miraculous outfit. He leapt down from the wall he was standing on and stood in front of her. It helped that he had a cane to balance him. 

"My name is Cygne," the boy introduced himself, "I've noticed that you've been having a hard time with your possessions lately... I believe I can help."

"I've only had four attempts," Medusa refuted, "What can you do to help? It's not like you have the same power as me. I didn't even realise the swan miraculous was still around."

Cygne held his hand out as an ancient book appeared out of nowhere. It floated just above the palm of his hands, the pages beginning to turn. "I own a special book - Leiptr. Also known as the Guardian's book. I can summon anything from it's pages... and it details information about the miraculouses," he told her with a smile. "Why don't we summon something now to test it out? The Miraculous Six won't know what's coming."

"Alright, show me," grinned Medusa. "What sort of surprises have you got for me in that book of yours?"

He continued to turn the pages until he landed on what he wanted. "Ah... are you aware of the original 'zombie?' I'm talking about the ones before the 60's. A vessel that we can control," he winked at her before continuing. "A graveyard is the perfect place to look for victims."

Medusa stood back as Cygne whispered some ancient words over a shallow grave. A light poured from his body into the grave. Within seconds, the dirt began to shift. A hand emerged from the dirt. Medusa's heartbeat quickened. 

Cygne pointed his cane at the emerging zombie. "You! Stand still and await further orders!" He commanded. 

Instead, the zombie crawled out of the dirt and lunged towards Cygne. Some of the flesh was falling off. The smell made Medusa want to vomit. It appeared to be trying to form words, yet all it could manage was a few grunts and moans.

"What?" Cygne stepped back and whacked the zombie with his cane. "Excuse me! I said stand still! Stop trying to bite me!" 

"Um... Cygne, is it possible that the book meant the modern version of a zombie?" Medusa suggested as she stepped further back, away from the zombie.

"This book was definitely not created in the 60's," Cygne grunted as he continuously hit the zombie with his cane. "That's when the first idea of this first came about... what, are you suggesting that this was where Romero got his inspiration from? No way."

Medusa heard a shuffling behind her and turned to see another zombie behind her, it's flesh falling off by the minute. She cried out in shock and started to notice that more zombies began to emerge from their graves. Her muscles grew tense as she backed up into Cygne.

"Ah," he said simply. "I may have made another mistake... no wonder why I'm so tired. Medusa, I may have caused the dead of Paris to rise again. Do you think they outnumber the living?"

"Stop talking and get us out of here!" Medusa hissed as she kicked a zombie away from her. "I don't want to see if they can bite through our miraculous outfits... we'll leave The Miraculous Six to clean up this mess."

Cygne nodded and cast a teleportation spell using Leiptr. The two miraculous users vanished from the graveyard, leaving the zombies to turn their attention towards the streets of Paris.

——

Alexandre was holding a meeting with the kwamis. Such a thing didn't happen very often. As a result, all of the kwamis (well, that Alexandre had handed out himself) were happily chatting away, overjoyed to see each other. 

"Alright, everyone," Alexandre called the meeting into order. "Thank you for taking the time to visit me today. I know you were all rather confused when you were awakened."

"Confused is one word for it!" Krratch exclaimed, "When we saw what happened to the old guardian... we were all in shock. He was a good man."

"We didn't see him name his successor," Squeek commented, "I thought the next successor would be named through his family. That's what usually happens."

"My master was given the Guardian miraculous personally," Adder told the others, "I have to say, for a new guardian, he's doing a fine job."

"Thank you, Adder," Alexandre smiled at them. "I do all of this in tribute to my predecessor... and for the future of Paris. I ask that you keep an eye on your users. They'll need you."

"Which is why we should be with them right now," Kaliis replied sarcastically, "But... I do appreciate being able to see everyone again."

"Me, too, Kaliis!" Chirped Wabbi, "It's nice to stretch my legs, too. It gets cramped, hiding in a bag all day. Even if we can pass through it."

"They're learning more about their abilities, too," Koou noted, "We haven't had any accidents... yet. All of their identities are still a secret."

Claww flew up to the window and frowned. "Hm. Are we expecting company?" They asked the group, "There's..."

A loud thud echoed throughout the room. The door began to creak - admittedly, Alexandre hadn't gotten round to replacing the old thing. Another thud. The door began to fall off of its hinges. Wabbi swore they could've heard a low growl.

The third and final thud took the door off completely. A zombie crashed into the room and stretched its arms out towards Alexandre, opening its jaw.

Immediately, the kwamis sprung into action to protect the Guardian. Whilst it wasn't recommended for a kwami to use their powers without their user, there was no time to think of a better solution. 

"Wings flap!" Kaliis cried, causing the zombie to helplessly float towards the ceiling. Luckily, it wouldn't effect the kwamis.

Meanwhile, the others began to search for a weapon for Alexandre to use. Squeek managed to find a small hunting knife and carried it to Alexandre. 

He quickly stabbed the zombie in the head, leading to it becoming lifeless once more. A look of disgust fell on his face when he pulled the knife out and blood fell onto the floor. The zombie floated down to the floor miserably.

"Get to your users," Alexandre commander, panic now settling in. "Make sure they're safe. Go!"

——

Bruno ran into a nearby alleyway and ducked down beneath a trash can. Once again, he had narrowly avoided his gambling debts. His pursuers continued on, unaware that he had hid himself behind a trash can. 

He was surprised that Krratch hadn’t voiced his concerns at this point. When they found out that Bruno spent most of his evenings gambling and being chased out of of these places, they voiced concern after concern. It was getting a bit annoying. They were almost as bad as Veronique.

Grinning, he emerged from his hiding place and stretched his arms. All that running had made him hungry. Luckily, he managed to ‘borrow’ enough money to buy a baguette. Maybe even enough to buy a new pen for school.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of someone rummaging through a large trash heap. Bruno turned to see someone half-submerged in it. All he could see was their jeans and shoes. 

“You won’t find any food in there, mate!” Bruno called out to the trash person. “Believe me, I’ve tried. Stinking stuff. You’re better off robbing a store.”

The person shuffled out of the trash heap and looked dead at Bruno. He almost fell over in shock. Blood was leaking from their head, with their skull exposed. An arm was missing. Part of the bone was sticking out. He wanted to throw up. 

Unbeknownst to Bruno, he had just met a recently reanimated zombie. The zombie dragged its feet towards Bruno, arm outstretched. 

“Krratch, hunting time-!” Bruno cried, expecting a transformation. But there wasn’t. Krratch was nowhere to be seen. “Shit. I’m fucking out of here!” Was the last thing he said before pelting it down the streets of Paris. 

Hopefully for him, Krratch wasn’t too far behind.

——

It was time for the seven o’clock news. Flo and her grandmother, May, were sitting on the sofa, watching the headlines roll. There was some noise outside their house, but they didn’t pay attention to it. The two newscasters broke out into a mindless chatter.

_“We have an incoming report... riots have broken out in the city of Paris. The police are quickly becoming overwhelmed, with some reports stating that the attackers are biting civilians,”_ the male newscaster started, _“The army has been called, and all have been advised to stay in their homes and wait for all of this to blow over.”_

_“I don’t understand why they’re having a problem,”_ the female newscaster began, _“Look - in the recording, they’re being pushed by riot shields... and tear gas! That’s enough to deter any rioters. Luckily, this is only centred around Paris... unluckily, our studio is right in the centre.”_

_“Yes, well, we’re fine. We have security,”_ the male newscaster assured her, _“I have had some people say that they’re attempting to get in the building... hm?”_

“Hey, listen to that,” Flo whispered to her grandmother, “I swear it’s the TV. Looks like the camera crew are kicking up a fuss.”

“Are you sure that’s not outside...?” May glanced at the window for a second. “I think they’re near our street, Flo...”

Flo drowned out the noises from outside and turned her attention back to the TV. A man stumbled in front of the camera and grabbed it from the cameraman. 

_“Don’t listen to them!”_ The man insisted as security tried to take him away. _“They’re not rioters! If you get bitten... you become one of them! Don’t you see?! It’s the beginning of a zombie apocalypse! You have to aim for the he-”_

He was quickly taken away by security. Flo looked towards May with a worried look on her face. Was that just a hijacker? Or was he serious?

“It’s alright,” May squeezed Flo’s hand. “We’ll do what they say. Stay inside. We’ll be fine, as long as we don’t go outside.”

——

Bianca watched as her mother began to pack a bag. Her father hadn’t returned from work. They had just watched the same broadcast as Flo did, causing an alarming concern between the two.

“Mother, you can’t!” Begged Bianca, “You heard what they said! What if you don’t come back...?!”

Her mother placed her hands on Flo’s shoulders. “Shh. Sweetie, I want you to take care of your siblings, alright?” She asked, “Don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll lock it behind me. You’ll be safe.”

She grabbed the car keys and kissed Bianca goodbye. “Your father must be close... I’ll be back in a jiffy,” she said with confidence as she walked out of the door.

Leon wondered into the room and looked out of the window. “Bianca... I think we should get the others upstairs,” he frowned. “Maybe we should draw the curtains, too... turn the lights off.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” nodded Bianca. “Let’s do that. Get the others to be quiet, too. I don’t know what’s going on... and I fear that keeping the TV on will scare the others.”

“But it’s the only way to get any information,” Leon pointed out as he closed a curtain. “Unless we use our phones... I can keep an eye out.”

Bianca looked down at her bag. Wabbi wasn’t there. Where were they? They had never left like this before. She needed to fix this - and fast. 

“I’ll do downstairs,” she told Leon, “Go and check if the others are safe. I’ll make sure no one comes in, too.”

Leon nodded. “Alright... be safe, Bianca,” he whispered, “I don’t want to lose you... you’re what’s keeping us together.”


	10. Call of the Dead

Percy sat in front of his TV, channel hopping. His father wasn't expected to be home for a couple of hours. He didn't feel like doing homework right now. Could you blame him?

He absentmindedly flicked through some channels, surprised at how many were broadcasting news reports.

_"With these vicious attacks on the rise, some people are wondering if..."  
".♪Could life ever be sane again?♪"  
"The government are ordering people to stay in their homes, and not to..."  
"♪Run down to the safety of the town, but there's panic on the streets of♪"  
"Paris, with unconfirmed sources calling it the 'end of days'"_

Wait. Did that just form a sentence or two? He must've been imagining it. The chances of that happening must've been a million to one.

His idling was interrupted by someone bursting into his apartment. It was his father. He was home rather early. It looked like he had been sweating, too.

"Percy!" His father, Emile, called out to him as he bolted the door shut. "Close those curtains. It's like hell out there... Paris is going to hell!"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Percy asked him as he closed the curtains. "I just thought all of that commotion was traffic... I mean, it is traffic, isn't it?"

"Half of it is," shrugged Emile. "I had to ditch the car to get back here. They were trying to keep us in the news station to broadcast news... but once I saw what our reporters were sending in, I decided to bail."

"What did they manage to find out?" Percy questioned him further and flicked the TV to a news channel. "It looks like everyone is just broadcasting the same stuff."

"Well, for one, it's contained within Paris. It started here," Emile explained, "The graveyards are the most dangerous place to be right now... although, there's a weird beacon coming from one of them. It's noticeable when you get close."

Percy gasped. A beacon? "Did they say which graveyard has the beacon?" He probed him further. This could come in handy. 

"No... I got out of there before that," Emile sighed as he grabbed a nearby kitchen knife. "Hm. Kinda wish we had a gun or two... a knife will have to do."

"I-I'll go and grab my baseball bat," Percy stuttered, "And, you know, keep an eye out. Just in case. Don't disturb me or anything." He planned to transform before his father locked the windows and doors. Now, to locate his kwami...

——

On the other hand, Kobe's father, Tom, was more concerned about his own safety than his son's. He was carrying his hunting rifle and was planning to shoot anyone that came to the door. Zombie or not.

"Well?" Tom called out to Kobe, "How long do you think we can last on what we have? How long before we have to go outside?"

"U-Um, a lot of what we have needs to be cooked, or goes out of date soon, father," Kobe explained, putting an expired yogurt aside. "We won't last a week, especially if the power goes off... b-but we shouldn't raid other people's houses because of it!"

Tom didn't respond. He looked out of the window and shot a zombie (hopefully) from a distance. "They're getting closer," he finally responded, "There's some fresh ones in the distance... like they haven't been dead for long. They seem to be able to jog, too. Just what we need."

"You'll just draw their attention if you keep shooting like that," Kobe warned him, "Don't make this worse than it already is..."

"Oh, you think you can outrun them with your stupid sports trophies?" He tutted, "Sure. See how long you last. Some of us need to defend ourselves - not run away. You're lucky we have a gun." 

Kobe rolled his eyes and stormed back into his room. There was just no reasoning with him. Maybe he could use his miraculous powers to stop all of this. He could totally do that, right? 

_"K-Kobe-! Sorry, I'm here now!"_

He turned to see his kwami, Koou, fly into his room through the wall. Huh. That was something he didn't know they could do.

"You wanna transform, right?" Koou asked him.

"Thought you'd never ask," chuckled Kobe, "Alright... Koou, let's run!"

——

Veronique handed out water bottles to a group of people hiding in her family's home. It was her father's idea to get people wondering around outside inside, where they would be safe. She was surprised that he had taken on such a heroic feat.

He poked his head round the door and grinned. "Hey, Ver. Your mom wanted me to check on you," he said, washing the blood off of his baseball bat. "Oh, um. Don't worry about me. I've got some experience in these things."

"In fighting zombies?" Veronique chuckled, "You surprised me, father... I thought you would've hid yourself up, like most people. I didn't expect you to rush out there, saving people left and right!"

"I can't just stand idle whilst people get attacked by those things," her father, Bruce, replied, "Our house is big enough to house loads of people, so why not invite them inside? We have to stick together in times like these."

"I'll go check if I have any candy upstairs, then," Ver grinned. She was using this as an excuse to transform. "I might as well share it out, right?"

"Yes, that's a good idea!" Bruce agreed, "I'm certain we still have some halloween candy somewhere... your room would be a good place to start."

Veronique waved goodbye to her father as he ran out of the house again, batting another zombie. There was a small pile of them outside their house now, attracting some flies. Perhaps Squeek would know what to do in a situation such as this...

She ran upstairs and looked inside her purse. For some reason, Squeek wasn't in there. Huh. That was odd. Perhaps they were-

Ah. Of course. Squeek was sleeping peacefully on her bed. She could've sworn that Squeek wasn't there at the start of all of this... but no matter.

"Squeek!" She called out to her kwami, "We need to help the people of Paris... just like my dad! We can do that, right?"

Squeek rolled over. "Hm? Oh, right! We can definitely do that!" They chirped, "I say we try to find the source of this thing, too... it was magic that caused all of this."

"Magic?" Veronique repeated, "What... you mean, like the miraculous? Don't tell me Medusa has done another possession again...!"

"This isn't Medusa," Squeek shook their head. "There's only one thing that comes to mind... but that hasn't been seen for years..."

"Not Medusa. Got it," Veronique extended out her hand towards Squeek. "Squeek... whiskers alert!" 

Minette hopped out of her room and headed out to find the others. They must be around here somewhere. Maybe on a roof. If she couldn't find them, she would be forced to try out that weird messaging feature on her ribbon. 

——

Aithusa tried his best to keep to the shadows. It would be dangerous if certain people knew he existed. But, at the same time, he couldn't let the citizens of Paris suffer like this. The Miraculous Six couldn't stop all of this and save people at the same time.

So that's where he decided to intervene. He would do his best to try and save as many people as he could, all whilst trying to not get caught on TV. It should be easy enough. He just had to avoid the cameras.

He looked down below and saw a man crawl underneath a car to escape a zombie. Sure, that was a totally-okay hiding place. Perhaps the man was in a panic.

Aithusa flew down and unsheathed his katana. He sliced the zombie's head into two, the zombie falling miserably onto the floor. “Climb up the emergency ladder on that building,” he instructed to the man, “You’ll be safer on the rooftops.”

The man crawled out from under the car and nodded. “I, uh, thanks, but... who are you? Are you with those heroes playing dress up?” He asked Aithusa, presumably talking about The Miraculous Six.

“No,” Aithusa stopped himself before he could reveal anything further about himself. “I’m... a friend. Just trying to help. Please, get to safety before more zombies arrive.”

It seemed to convince him. With the man now being safe, Aithusa flew into the sky to observe the streets some more. Near the centre of Paris, the Parisian police seemed to be trying to get things under control. No doubt they would pass this off as riots.

His observing was interrupted by a family calling for him over on a nearby rooftop. Well... he assumed they were calling for him. Nobody else around here was a flying wyvern. 

As he landed on said rooftop, they rushed over to him. “Please! You have to help us!” One woman cried, “My wife went down to her supplies from the store... but she hasn’t returned. I don’t know what’s stopping her... can you take a look?”

Aithusa looked down at the family and smiled. One girl, two boys. It reminded him of his. “Of course,” he replied, “Can you point to which store it was? I’ll grab some more supplies for you, too.”

The woman thanked him and pointed to a nearby supermarket chain. SPAR. Immediately, Aithusa leapt into action, flying down to the streets below. 

When he landed, he noticed a few zombies staring at a dead bird. He sighed and sliced their heads, becoming more worried about the mother by the second. 

Inside the store, the place was in a state of chaos. Products were thrown onto the floor, and the workers had fled. Cash had been taken out of the tills. 

“Hello?” Aithusa called out to no one in particular. “Anyone, uh... home? Hopefully not any zombies... pretend you didn’t hear me if you’re a zombie.”

A man poked his head out of the staff corridor and began to move towards him. He was groaning, sort of like a zombie. But he seemed perfectly alive. Sure, there was a bite mark on...

Oh. 

Now that he thought about it, this zombie was moving faster than the others. He still had skin. And flesh. This must’ve been a new one. 

Aithusa raised his katana to slice the zombie’s head off, but something inside him made him hesitate. This obviously wasn’t a dead person before. Maybe he could still be saved. 

Instead of slicing the zombie’s head, he shoved him inside the toilets and closed the door. He propped the door shut with a chair and headed for the corridor where the zombie had came from.

He found two more zombies, these ones definitely dead. Luckily, his katana made quick work of them. The amount of blood beginning to get on him was a little concerning - at least he didn’t have to wash it off.

They were all crowding around the chiller. Perhaps there was someone inside? He decided to open it and find out. No harm in checking.

When he opened the door, a woman fell out and collapsed onto the floor. “Y-You’re not one of them!” She cried, shivering like crazy. “Oh, thank god... when I saw they were in here, I panicked and ran inside here... I assumed they would go away after a while...”

Aithusa helped her up and allowed her to lean on him. “Is your family hiding on the rooftops? They sent me to find you,” he explained, “I’ll get you back up there. I can carry your supplies up there, too.”

The woman nodded and allowed Aithusa to fly her back up to the rooftops, being reunited with her family. He quickly flew back down to collect some supplies - and threw in a cuddly toy for good measure - for the family. If he wasn’t an adult, this would’ve grown exhausting for him already.

“Thank you!” The little girl chirped, “Oh, but... we didn’t ask for your name. Are you like those other heroes? Do you have a super cool name?!”

He hesitated before answering. “My name... my name is Aithusa,” he told them, a smile on his face. “Good luck... we won’t meet again.”


	11. Graveyard of the Dead

Talonarrow was the last to arrive out of the group. They had created a temporary base on the Eiffel Tower, a place where the zombies wouldn't be able to reach. However, this also meant that they had a perfect view of the destruction below.

"The army is doing a good job," Minette mumbled, gesturing towards a blockade to the south. "They're holding them back... but it's only a matter of time before they're overwhelmed. Especially if the zombies keep on coming."

"Which is why we should investigate that beacon over there!" Monarch retorted, pointing to the north. "It's too far away to see where it's coming from... what's over there, anyway?"

"The Arc de Triomphe, I suppose," Coyote shrugged. "But it can't be that. It would've been all over the news already. Ugh, I hate this... we should just head over there, now."

"Then we need to stick to the rooftops," Cottontail warned the group, "The zombies are mostly on the streets. We can't let ourselves get overwhelmed... got it?"

"Got it," Loupe replied, "Hey, I'll race you there... loser has to figure out how we'll stop this thing."

"Th-That's not very... I think we should take this more seriously-!" Talonarrow called out as Loupe began to head for the beacon of light. The others chased after him, not wanting to be the last one. Including Talonarrow.

He was still getting used to the way his wings worked. They could only help him jump over long distances - if he tried to fly for an extended period of time, he would collapse. He wasn't strong enough yet. That was what Claww told him, anyway. 

Getting closer to the beacon, they could see that it was originating from a graveyard called Nacht der Untoten. Of course this entire thing originated from a graveyard. Where else would you find zombies?

"I have to say, it's interesting that zombies are rising from every grave," Minette noted, "Like... aren't most of them skeletons? In coffins? Buried under a pile of dirt?"

"Perhaps the magic used did something about that," Coyote suggested, "I mean... look at what the miraculous can make us do. It wouldn't be entirely out of the question for magic to do something like this, right?"

Monarch held her arm up in the air, signalling for the others to stop. "There's tons of them. We can easily become overwhelmed. Look - they're still coming out of the ground, now," she said.

"The beacon of light... is it coming from that coffin?" Loupe chuckled, "That's so weird. Hey, maybe if we close it, we'll be able to stop the magic!"

"It's the best plan we have so far," Cottontail agreed, "Even if it's the most terrifying... like Monarch said, we can easily become overwhelmed. Having guns would make this, like, ten times easier."

"We're not getting a gun," Monarch snapped, "We can do just fine with what we have. I believe in us, okay? We can do it."

Minette excitedly jumped down to the ground and leapt on top of the graveyard's fencing. She held up her ribbon before hesitating. A simple ribbon wasn't exactly the kind of weapon that would be useful against a bunch of zombies. 

"Why did she do that...?" Coyote grumbled as he joined her on the fence, using his claws to stab at nearby zombies. "Just stick by me, Minette. Tie the zombies up, or something."

Cottontail was next. Instead of landing on the fence, she slammed her hammer hard onto the ground, crippling a few zombies. However, they were still going after her. She hadn't destroyed the brain. 

As they crawled towards her, Talonarrow was next to act. From his vantage point, he shot arrows towards the zombies, hitting them square in the head. For a weapon of his type, it would be better to stay out of harm's way and cover his teammates.

"Thanks, Talonarrow!" Cottontail grinned as she slammed her hammer down once more. They had a tactic going - Cottontail would slow down the zombies, and Talonarrow would snipe them.

Loupe and Monarch stayed behind Cottontail as she created a path for them. Bodies were quickly beginning to pile up. Yet they still kept coming out of the empty graves. Their presence had only intensified it.

"Perhaps they're protecting the beacon," Monarch noted, "Like guards, or something. They see a threat, so the magic is creating more of them to protect the source..."

Coyote jumped down from the fence, leaving Minette on her own. He began to pick off the zombies that were alone, using his claws to stab them through the skull. Hopefully the magic would get the blood off of them. His hands were covered - it almost made him sick.

Whilst the rest of the group were occupied, one zombie was inching closer to Minette. She was preoccupied with watching Cottontail's majestic hammer skills, her back turned. 

Which is when the zombie grabbed her foot. 

——

Aithusa was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. At the same time as the zombie grabbed Minette's foot, he buckled. He slammed down onto the rooftop, hard. At first, he thought that he had simply lost his footing. One glance down to his own foot told him otherwise. 

His eyes were wide with alarm. His left foot was starting to fade away - he couldn't feel it, or move it. In a mixture of shock and horror, he held up his left hand. It was the same. His hand was starting to fade away from existence.

He collapsed onto the ground and tried to suppress the urge to vomit. "Adder, guard away," he hissed, detransforming. A waffle fell out of his pocket.

Adder held up the waffle and began to eat as quickly as they could. "Master, I told you... this is what happens when you mess with time!" They cried in horror, "What... what should I do?"

"Find... find The Miraculous Six. One of them is in danger," Alexandre told them, "Please, hurry... I didn't realise how painful fading away from existence was."

Nodding, Adder created a portal and launched themselves into it. Even if they had access to time travel, they only had a short amount of time to save Alexandre. Fitting. The time kwami was short of time. 

Alexandre smiled softly as he watched Adder fly away. It was the trouble with staying in this timeline. His fate was always undetermined.

——

Adder flew into the scene and witnessed the problem in question. A zombie had grabbed Minette’s foot, and help was nowhere nearby. They would have to do something.

Using their time travel powers, they created a portal underneath the zombie and sent it two seconds into the future. Specifically, they sent it over to where the other heroes were, so that it could be disposed of.

Minette crashed to the ground in confusion. The zombie that was attacking her had just disappeared through a random portal. What was that all about?

Seeing that the problem was solved, Adder didn’t stick around. They opened up a portal and flew through it, worried about Alexandre’s safety.

Meanwhile, Coyote jumped back on the fence and helped pull Minette up. “What was all that screaming about?” He asked her in confusion.

“A zombie attacked me!” Minette cried, climbing back onto the fence. “It grabbed my foot, but then it... but then it just disappeared... through a portal. Do we know anyone with that kind of power?”

Coyote shrugged. “You were probably just imagining things. Come on, the others have created a path for us. As long as we stay near them, we’ll be okay,” he said.

Minette nodded and followed Coyote to the others. They were close to the beacon now. Just a few more steps, then one of them would be able to examine it.

“Hey, there’s the cover on the floor,” Monarch noted, “Think it’ll be as simple as... Uh, covering it?”

Loupe winced as Talonarrow shot a zombie next to him. “I sure hope so. I mean, it would make sense, right? We stop the beacon from... coming out,” he chuckled. “Man, magic is stupid.”

“Let’s hurry up and do it, then!” Cottontail whined, “My swinging arm is getting tired... and I’m worried about Talonarrow!”

Monarch and Loupe grabbed the heavy coffin lid and lifted it over the coffin. As they slid it over, the beacon began to die out. With one last push, they managed to cover the entire coffin and stop the beacon.

When the beacon disappeared, the zombies fell to the floor, their eyes no longer glowing with magic. Some of them even disappeared, or returned to being skeletons. It was a sight to see, at least.

“We... we did it!” Minette squealed, “Huh. We didn’t even have to use our powers. They were really weak...”

“Well, their power comes in numbers, not strength,” Loupe reminded her, “Anyway... I’m beat. How about we all go and check on our families, hm?”

Cottontail could see Talonarrow waving in the distance. He seemed to have the same idea, as after a few seconds, he jumped away. 

“Nice work, guys,” Monarch applauded the group, “I hope we find out what caused this... one day.”

——

Medusa rolled her eyes as, yet again, The Miraculous Six had bested her. “Well, that was a smashing success,” she said to Cygne, “Any other bright ideas? You practically messed with Paris more than them. I don’t want to mess up the city, Cygne-"

“I-I know, I know-!” Cygne retorted, “Look, maybe... maybe I can half-fix this. Give me a second. This book has loads of stuff in it, so...”

Medusa watched as Cygne began to rapidly flick through his book. She was beginning to wonder if it was a bad idea, bringing him to her lair. He could turn on her at any moment.

“Aha!” Cygne pointed to a page in his book. “Apparently, they used these to help with reconstruction after earthquakes. Perhaps it’ll work...”

Cygne mumbled some odd words and pointed towards the streets of Paris. Energy poured out from him and flew out into the streets, dousing fires and cleaning up the streets.

“Wow...!” Medusa exclaimed with wide eyes. “That... that’s amazing! You could really help society with that sort of book-”

Before she could say anything else, Cygne collapsed next to her. He dropped his book; his face pale. It seemed that the spell was too much for him, especially after casting the previous zombie spell.

Medusa managed to catch him and grabbed a cushion to put under his head. He was lucky that he wasn’t using his special power - otherwise, he would’ve detransformed. His kwami still had energy, although he didn’t.

She glanced at Leiptr. It sure was a powerful book. How the hell did someone like Cygne come across it, and how did he manage to get a miraculous? The swan miraculous was missing - even the Guardian didn’t have it. 

Cygne came to a moment later. His eyes fluttered open as they scanned the room. “S-Sorry,” he apologised, “Using that book takes a lot out of me... not only am I a new user, but I’m also not the Guardian.”

“You shouldn’t have to use that book all of the time, though,” Medusa frowned. “You can use your ability. What is it, by the way?”

He bit his lip. “Um. Well. I would be able to interfere with a subject’s emotions... like make them angry, so it’ll be easier for you to possess. Which would be extremely useful!” He chuckled nervously. “But... it’s disabled. By the Guardian. When I first got this miraculous, that’s what my kwami told me... I can’t use it without finding the Guardian, first.”

“The Guardian, huh?” Medusa smirked. She had an idea. “Well... if we can catch the Guardian, together... I’ll make them fix your miraculous. I need to catch them, myself...”

“Okay!” Cygne grinned at her. “Then... it’s a deal! We’ll catch The Miraculous Six and the Guardian together, Medusa!”

This partnership might work out better than Medusa had first thought.


	12. Magic Transformation, Power Up!

Once again, the three adults had set up a meeting. They had stayed relatively safe in their nice, expensive bunkers. No zombies were able to get them in there. 

"We all know why we're gathered here today," the blond-haired man announced, "Our suspicions were correct... the arrival of new miraculous users comes with the arrival of the Guardian."

He pressed a button on his laptop that showed various poor-quality pictures of a figure in a green outfit. Wings sprouted from their back. 

"I saw the news report. A little girl said she was saved by someone known as 'Aithusa', right?" The purple-haired woman's eyes beamed in excitement. 

"There's no doubt about it. This Aithusa person has to be the Guardian," the black-haired woman agreed, "It's been twenty years... and they wouldn't have aged a bit. This makes finding them all the more easier."

"But we've only seen a glimpse at them! There's no way we could recognise them in their civilian form," frowned the purple-haired woman. "We'll just have to wait until they emerge again..."

"I'm sure something disastrous will happen again soon!" The black-haired woman chuckled. "Come on... with that boy as well... it's only a matter of time."

"Just make sure we stick to the plan," the blond-haired man reminded them. "The Guardian has to think that we've changed... we need to get that miraculous fixed. With that sort of power... the world would crumble at our feet."

——

Percy was back in school after a few days. The school had shut for a few days to allow people time to recover from that zombie fiasco. He had heard that a documentary was already being made about it. 

Claww rustled about in his pocket, trying to get his attention. "Hey, um. You have a message," they said simply.

"A message?" Percy repeated, "No one messages me. You don't even have my phone. What do you mean, I have a message?"

"On your miraculous device, dummy," Claww rolled their eyes. "All miraculous users can communicate with each other. It just so happens that one of your teammates has decided to actually use this function."

"I'm... kind of in the middle of school right now," frowned Percy. "I can't just transform to take a look at the message. Can't you read it to me?"

Claww huffed and closed their eyes. "Alright, fine... it's from Monarch. She says she wants everyone to meet up on the Eiffel Tower for a team meeting at six, tonight," they said.

"A team meeting, huh?" Percy chuckled. This was new. "I don't know what exactly there is to talk about... I don't really know the others, to be honest."

"Just remember to keep your identity a secret," Claww reminded him, "Everything always goes horribly wrong if not. Don't ask me to explain..."

Percy shrugged and glanced up at a nearby clock. Five hours to go. All he had to do was not work himself up over this for the next five hours. He was Talonarrow! Talonarrow didn't get worked up over minor things - he was the anchor of the team. Mainly because Loupe and Coyote were so hotheaded.

——

It was five hours later, and Talonarrow was doing his best to be more courageous and assertive. He was a different person now. And he had to climb the Eiffel Tower. Why was he getting worked up over this small thing? It made no sense.

When he arrived, the others were waiting for him. He leant up against a railing and nodded at Monarch - she could start now, he was here.

"Nice to see you people use your communication devices," Monarch grinned. She looked tired. "Now that we're an actual team... I feel like we need to discuss Medusa. There's no way that zombie thing was her."

"The snake miraculous can possess people, right? Living people," Loupe thought out loud, "I'm pretty sure she can't possess skeletons. You think she had some help?"

"Ah, did you see that new miraculous user on TV?" Cottontail chirped, "Maybe she had some help... I don't think our kwami's mentioned a lizard miraculous user, though."

"You thought it was a lizard?" Coyote rolled his eyes. "Besides, I thought they helped people. That doesn't sound like the one that caused that zombie mess."

"So... there must be another miraculous user," Minette suggested, "But... again, even our kwami's didn't mention someone with the power to do that."

"There is... one thing that my kwami mentioned," Monarch mumbled, "Apparently, there's this super cool miraculous book or something. It lets you summon things - magic. Stuff like that. Maybe she got her hands on it...?"

Talonarrow grunted. "Then our jobs are about to get a lot harder. Hopefully, she would've seen how much damage she caused with the zombies and not use it for a while."

"Yeah, hopefully," Loupe agreed, "I wonder what she's doing right now, though? Up to no good, I bet. Can't she give us a night off...?"

——

Medusa couldn't afford to have a night off. She was currently hopping around Paris, trying to find a good person to possess. Cygne desperately wanted to come with her, but she had made sure that he stayed back at her lair.

Luckily, they could communicate through a nifty spell Cygne had concocted. It was basically like having an earpiece in all of the time. It was also the only way Cygne would stay happy.

_"I still don't understand why I'm not allowed to do anything,"_ he complained for the fifth time that day, _"You've seen how strong I am, Medusa... why, I'd even let you possess me, my love!"_

Medusa cringed internally. Whilst Cygne having a very obvious crush on her was useful, it could be annoying. He would do anything for her, if it meant that she would keep him around. It was the second part she was struggling on. She wasn't used to having help. 

_"Radio silence? Alright. I'll assume that you're near some people,"_ he continued, _"Sooo... see anyone, yet? There must be someone around Paris that's in need of your help."_

"My options are a little girl that wants to stay up and watch a stupid cartoon, or a stray dog," Medusa replied, "Which one sounds less like a failure?"

_"Um... the little girl. What cartoon is she watching? Maybe you can just turn her into the main character,"_ Cygne suggested.

Medusa knocked on the little girl's window like a creepy stalker. She had her harp ready. Luckily, the window led onto a roof. Otherwise, she'd have to use her hands to hold on to the window, rather than for playing her harp.

As soon as the little girl opened the window, Medusa began to play her harp. She wasn't too sure about this possession, but it would have to do...

——

The Miraculous Six's meeting was interrupted by a blinding light, half a mile away from where they were. The light launched upwards into the air and was heading towards the Eiffel Tower - where the group was situated. 

"Uh," Loupe was the first to speak, "What the hell is that? Were we expecting a meteor shower?"

"It's another possession," Medusa scrambled to get on her feet. "Great! We really can't have the night off... everyone, get your weapons ready. We don't know what we're expecting."

As the light got closer, the group could make out a faint outline. It was a little girl, with large fairy-like wings. Did Medusa really take advantage of a little girl?

The weird fairy girl landed in the middle of the group and pointed dramatically at Monarch. “Evil villains! I’m the Fairy of Power, and I’m here to smite you!”

“Fairy of Power?” Cottontail repeated, “What does that even mean? It’s... oddly abstract. Does that mean you can zap energy? Is it that sort of power? Is it-”

“Now’s not the time!” Coyote snarled, “Look... little... girl... we kind of don’t want to hurt you. Why don’t you use your powers against Medusa? Uh... what should we call you...?”

“Ariella! Do you seriously not know me?” ‘Ariella’ grinned. “I’m the most powerful Fairy in the whole world! I’m a princess, too! Also, nobody has had my magic in years! And I’m also the only one capable of-”

“So she’s a Mary Sue,” Loupe realised, “How the fu... fudge are we supposed to fight a Mary Sue? Aren’t they supposed to be, like... impossible to kill?”

“Hang on. Maybe we can talk her out of this!” Minette suggested, “We know Medusa is possessing her... it can’t hurt! Did you hear what we said, Ariella? We don’t want to hurt you!”

“Then why are you ready to blast me?” Ariella gestured towards Loupe, who had his gauntlets ready. “Don’t lie to me! I can see it in your eyes... you’re evil! You’re working for the evil man!”

It was Cottontail’s turn. “Uh... well... we’re undercover! Don’t tell anyone, though... we’re here to bring life back to the magic... the magic... stone! And we can’t do it without your help!”

“Magic... stone?” Ariella tilted her head. “What’s that? Is it like the Tree of Beginnings? Has magic been taken away again?! Of course, that wouldn’t apply to me... nothing can take away my magic!”

“Almost! There’s a villain named Medusa - and she’s going to try and take over the world!” Cottontail continued, “We need the power of the Magic Stone to defeat her...”

Before Ariella could respond, a sharp pain pierced her head. She fell down onto the ground and screamed desperately. 

“What the he... is going on?” Loupe grumbled, “What’s wrong with her now? We were just getting somewhere...! Why is she screaming?!”

“It must be Medusa’s influence,” warned Talonarrow, “Remember, Medusa still has the final say on what she does. If she doesn’t like what Ariella is doing... I assume she sends a message to them.”

“So she just brings them pain whenever she doesn’t get what she wants?” Coyote rolled his eyes. “This sucks! I really don’t wanna hurt this little girl, but Medusa is forcing our hand... what will we look like, having to beat up a little girl like this?”

“That’s exactly what she’s after,” Monarch realised, “The public barely let us roam around as it is. If they see us beating up some little girl... I don’t think they’ll be that happy with us. They might even turn on us. Medusa would’ve won.”

“Then what are our options?” Minette asked the group, “We have to fight... otherwise... Ariella will just... you know! Blast us with some weird things!”

Talonarrow turned to a nearby abandoned building. “Over there,” he pointed, “I heard it was a set piece, but they abandoned it... no one would be about to watch our fight. Let’s lead her over there.”

“Great idea!” Cottontail giggled excitedly. “Hey, Ariella! We’re going to our super secret base! It would be a shame if you followed us...” 

Ariella gasped and flew up into the air. For a moment, Loupe wondered how her long dress was practical in a fighting situation - or how she managed to avoid tripping up on it. Her hair was awkwardly long, too - he could see himself accidentally stepping on it if she wasn’t flying. Her design was just... impractical for a fight. 

The Miraculous Six jumped down from the Eiffel Tower and headed for the abandoned building. Just as planned, Ariella was following them, using her wings to catch up to them. 

“Magic Transformation, Power Up!” Ariella suddenly cried, “Zoomix!” Her wings changed, becoming a sharper version of what they were before. Her flying speed had suddenly increased, leading to her being able to catch up with the group.

“Uh, Minette? A little help?” Coyote panted, struggling to catch up with the group. “Can’t you just run all of us over there... before I get blasted...?”

Minette rolled her eyes and activated her special ability. “Scurry!” She cried, grabbing ahold of the others and running as fast as she could to the abandoned building.


	13. Their Old Tricks

The Miraculous Six burst through a partially-broken window of the abandoned building. To be fair, most of the windows were already broken before they entered. It was one of the many buildings in Paris that hadn't been demolished or made-over yet. Naturally, it had attracted graffiti artists and the like. Nobody seemed to care about the old building. Until now.

Minette huffed as she dumped the team onto the ground. "I haven't got long, now," she gasped, "You better come up with an idea before I detransform."

Monarch turned her head as Ariella flew into the room. She cursed under her breath and launched her whip towards the fairy girl. "I really don't want to hurt you, you know... Medusa really is the worst..." she muttered.

The whip caught Ariella's leg and pulled her down closer to the ground. "Your stupid ropes can't hold me! Fire arrow!" She cried, a bolt of crimson launching from her palms. The projectile hit Monarch's hands, making her drop the whip out of her hands.

Next up was Cottontail. "Bound away!" She cried, activating her special power. Cottontail launched herself up into the air above Ariella, raising her hammer high. Her hammer slammed down, clipping Ariella's large wings. It was enough to send Ariella spiralling towards the ground.

"Alright! Now most of us can actually hit her!" Loupe said with a triumphant grin. He charged at Ariella with his gauntlets, although he was stopped by a hand on his chest. He looked up, confused.

"I thought that we were going to try and talk her down," Talonarrow frowned at him. "Won't you at least try? We'll be no better than Medusa if we always resort to violence."

"Fine, if you really think it's a good idea," Coyote rolled his eyes. "Hey, fairy girl. Why are you doing what Medusa wants you to do? She just wants to hurt people. And that's pretty bad."

Ariella stared at him. "She says that you're the bad ones. That you want to take over the world," she told them, "Both of you can't be telling the truth..."

"You should just do whatever you want!" Minette suggested, ignoring the sound of her miraculous warning her that she was going to detransform soon. "You could help loads of people in Paris!"

For a moment, Ariella seemed to consider it. Before she could respond verbally, she held her head in pain. Her eyes squinted as she shook her head rapidly. "Stop it!" She muttered to herself, "I don't want to..."

"Medusa must be harming her!" Monarch realised, "We have to end the possession, before Medusa takes advantage of her even more... Cottontail, did you see any inflamed areas?"

"It's hard to see much under her wings and hair," Cottontail admitted, "Um... maybe it's near the wings or something? Can anyone else see anything?"

Coyote jumped behind Ariella and took a look at her back. Luckily for him, Ariella was still having an internal argument with Medusa. "Uh... I think I see something. Where the wings sprout out of - her spine. The inflamed area is there," he told the others.

Loupe grinned and ran towards Ariella's wings, scrunching his hands into fists. As he grew closer to her, Ariella shot a beam of light towards him. It knocked him off his feet and sent him flying into a nearby wall.

Minette heard another beep from her miraculous. Her time was almost up. “U-Um, do you guys think you could handle this? I really need to go,” she mumbled, “I can come back after I feed my kwami!”

“We should be able to handle it. Get out of here before you detransform,” Monarch instructed her, “Medusa could be nearby. You need to get as far away as possible, in case she comes after you.”

Nodding, Minette fled the scene, leaving Ariella to the others. She didn’t exactly agree with this plan, but she knew better than to spend time arguing. If Medusa caught her in the middle of her detransformation, it would all be over. 

Cottontail smashed her hammer into the side of Ariella, sending her flying into the wall. “That’s what you get for doing that to Loupe! Quick, someone do something!” She cried.

Monarch used her whip to hold Ariella down in place. Admittedly, it was a little harder without Minette’s help. “Talonarrow! Shoot for her back!” She commanded.

Talonarrow aimed his bow at Ariella’s back, where the inflamed area was. He shot an arrow at the inflamed area, hitting it exactly. “Bullseye,” he smirked.

Ariella lost her wings and sparkly outfit, fainting at the arrow’s contact. Medusa’s control over her was now gone, leaving her as a little girl once more. 

“Um, who’s gonna find out where this girl lives?” Coyote frowned at the girl. “We don’t even know her real name... anyone recognise her?”

Cottontail’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I do, I do! She’s friends with one of my sisters... I think I can handle taking her back,” she told the others. “Um... right after I recharge my kwami, of course...”

“We’ll get out of your hair before you detransform,” Talonarrow smiled at her. “Good luck taking her back, Cottontail.”

Hearing Talonarrow’s compliment caused Cottontail to blush. She turned away and held her miraculous to hide it. “G-Go on, quickly... before I...”

The others left her to deal with the girl, all heading home. Or what they had left of a home, in one case. Their job was over for now.

——

Medusa was hot on the heels of Minette. She was going to detransform any minute now - she knew it. “I can see her, Cygne,” she hissed to her ally, “Are you nearby yet?”

_“I’m... running as fast as I can!”_ Cygne replied, having lost the energy to teleport again. _“Why couldn’t you have stayed in one place? I can’t just teleport every five seconds to keep up with you... it kills me!”_

“We’re chasing an enemy, remember?” Medusa rolled her eyes as she leapt from a rooftop. “I can’t exactly stop and wait for you... we’ll lose her!”

Minette darted into an alleyway and held her miraculous. She ran to the end, ensuring that no one else was down there. She found a cat, but decided to let it slide.

Meanwhile, Cygne bumbled his way up to Medusa. He was panting heavily, although he was quickly silenced by Medusa’s hand covering his mouth. She shot a harsh glare towards him - enough to make him whimper. 

Hearing the footsteps, Minette darted into a nearby rubbish tip. The bright lights that appeared from the rubbish tip showed that she had detransformed. She couldn’t hide in there for long.

Giggling, Medusa jumped down into the alleyway. “Now, now, Minette... what makes you think that you can hide from me?” She motioned to Cygne to follow her. “Give us your miraculous, or I’ll let Cygne do something horrible to you. He has a book that does all sorts of magic... the zombie thing? That was him.”

“Ooh, this might be the perfect chance to try out some spells!” Cygne jumped down from the rooftop and followed Medusa closely. “Let’s see... should I turn her into a frog? Or a gigantic monster?”

There was no reply from the rubbish tip. Medusa stepped closer. “I can always possess you. Turn you against your friends... wouldn’t that be nice?” She turned to Cygne. “Do something, idiot. Open the tip. It stinks out here.”

Cygne stepped forwards, but was startled by Squeek flying out of the rubbish tip. They passed through the material like it was nothing and started to attack Medusa and Cygne. Although, it was more like being punched by a bug. 

“Ugh! Get this stupid kwami off of me!” Medusa screamed, waving her arms around frantically. “Cygne, capture it! Now!”

“I-I’m trying-!” Cried Cygne, who was waving his book at the kwami. “If I can get it to touch these pages, it should - ow - capture it!”

Squeek grinned and grabbed a nearby rope. It was a little frayed, but it would have to do. They activated their special power - super speed - and spun around the two miraculous users, tying them together.

They screamed as they hit the ground, Cygne on top of Medusa. With how tight the rope was wrapped around them, they couldn’t move. All they could do was scream and wriggle their feet a bit.

“Cygne, you idiot! Where’s your book?!” Medusa yelled, an embarrassed blush on her face. “Get us out of here, right now! I refuse to be beaten by a kwami...!”

Leiptr was a few feet away from them - Cygne had dropped it in the struggle. However, he was more preoccupied with how close he was to Medusa. His blush was worse than hers. And he couldn’t help but to gaze into her eyes. “I-I can’t move... u-um... you sure are beautiful, Medusa...” he mumbled in a love-filled trance.

Medusa screamed in annoyance and rolled them towards Leiptr. As usual, Cygne was doing little to help. She reached her fingers out and flicked through the pages, looking for the spell to do with teleportation. “Get us out of here, at least! I have a knife or two in my lair... we’ll be able to get out of these stupid ropes better than a stupid fire spell can...” she mumbled.

Once the two of them had teleported away, Squeek opened the lid of the rubbish tip. “They’ve gone, Veronique! We did it!” They grinned.

Veronique emerged from the rubbish tip, covered in various bits of rubbish. “Ugh! I’m never doing that again... Monarch was right. Medusa really did go after me...” she sighed. “Come on, let’s head home. I need a shower... before anyone sees me...”

Despite this, as soon as Veronique began to head back to her home, someone caught sight of her. He grinned devilishly and began to follow her. His favourite actress was now all alone.

——

Medusa cut herself free from the ropes that were binding her to Cygne, her mouth spitting out a delightful mixture of curses. “Beaten by a kwami... and you see why I don’t think you’re ready to go out on your own yet, Cygne?!” She hissed at him. 

“I-I’m sorry!” Cygne held Leiptr close to his chest. “I really am... but you know that kwami’s are powerful beings! They’re hard to capture... but if we can capture the user’s miraculous, then-!”

“Which hasn’t worked so far!” Medusa snapped, “We came this close... and we blew it! This sucks so much! I hate this!”

“Please calm down, Medusa,” Cygne begged, “I hate to see you like this... look, what you said back there about possessing a miraculous user? It’s perfect! We should do that!”

Medusa thought about his idea for a moment. “Well... I suppose it would also reveal their identity to us... I’ll look into it,” she told him, “We’ll either get lucky, or have to stalk them again... either way, we’ll have to get lucky.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for you, my love!” Cygne said with a grin, his unrequited crush showing once more. “Hey, I’ll even study some more spells for you! Even if it takes out all of my energy... I’ll look into it for you.”

“I need a good spell, Cygne. Not a stupid... frog one,” Medusa demanded, her eyes full of glares. “I need something that is an actual threat. You understand? And... make sure it doesn’t hurt too many civilians... we’re only after The Miraculous Six.”

“Alrighty!” Cygne nodded, flipping through the book’s pages. “I’ll be off now... you know where to find me. Uh, well, you know how to contact me, rather... even if I can’t use my special ability, prolonged use of my miraculous still drains me all the same...”

“We’ll fix it. When we find the Guardian,” Medusa promised him, “That special ability you’re supposed to have... it’ll make possessions even easier. Especially on miraculous users. I’ll restore it... even if it’s the last thing I do...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t leave notes a lot but I appreciate every comment/kudos/etc. This is by far my most popular OC story, and I owe it all to you lovely people. Thanks a bunch!


	14. Spectre’s Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for late updates, I just started uni and have been in self isolation due to most of my flat testing positive for COVID. I’m fine, don’t worry!

Bruno hummed impatiently outside an old performing arts building. He had agreed to accompany Veronique on an audition - as long as she paid for his food afterwards. He really wasn't in a situation to say no. They had been doing this for as long as Bruno could remember.

He didn't exactly have a lot of money. His inheritance was already spent - and he wasted any money he got from the government on gambling. It was hard to get a job when he had school to go to, too.

Luckily, Veronique was finally done with her audition. He couldn't remember what it was about - something to do with an old war film or something. To be fair, he wasn't that much interested in war films. He'd much prefer a horror film.

"How did it go?" Bruno asked her as she emerged from the building. "You got it, right? Did they say anything to you?"

Veronique looked at him with a forced smile. "Oh, yes... um... Claudine was there. At the audition. I didn't think she was the acting type," she said, "They said they might contact me later... uh, can we get moving?"

"What's the rush?" Bruno shrugged. "We've got all the time in the world. What about where you're taking me to, hmm? What about that noodle place?"

"Mm... maybe," mumbled Veronique. She grabbed Bruno's hand and tugged him along, in a hurry. "Don't turn around."

Bruno almost tripped over his own feet. What was going on? "Slow down, Ver. It's usually me doing the running..."

"I... there's no time to explain," she hissed, taking a left turn. "There's someone... um... yeah, no time to explain!"

"No, no. What's up?" Bruno pulled her aside. She was acting way too weird. "I can help... I may not have much in the terms of money, but I can still dish out pretty good advice!"

"Oh... it's not like you could help me. I-I mean, I'd probably need a superhero or something!" Veronique insisted, "And you're not a superhero, soooo..."

"I might not be," he lied, "But I know where to find one! Look, wait here for a minute, and I'll be back with a superhero! All you gotta do is act like you need help, right?"

"W-Wait, that's really not necessary-! I wouldn't want to burden The Miraculous Six with a problem like that!" Veronique called out to Bruno, yet it was already too late. He was already sprinting down the road, insisting that everything would be alright.

When he was definitely alone, Bruno opened his jacket to let his kwami escape. "Krratch, hunting time!" He called out, activating his transformation. Krratch didn't have a chance to argue.

Loupe jumped down from the roof of a building, landing in front of Veronique. "I heard that you needed a hero!" He said with a grin. "So, what's the problem?"

Veronique stared at him with wide eyes. "Did... did Bruno fetch you? Where is he? How did he do it?"

"Bruno's just doing a good deed for me, that's all," he lied, "I'm more worried about you, though. Care to tell me what's up?"

"... Only if you're quiet. Look into the next street," Veronique instructed, "Do you see a boy with blond hair? Uh... actually, that's probably not specific enough... he should be wearing a purple hoodie."

Loupe glanced into the next street, making sure to keep himself as hidden as possible. Sure enough, he saw the boy Veronique was talking about. He seemed shifty; he was looking at his phone, but every now and then, he'd glance towards the alleyway that they were in.

"I've never seen him before until recently. I don't even know his name," she told him, "But he's been... um... following me for a while now... I'm scared to go home in case he follows me there. He knows where I go to school. Every time I finish, he's there, waiting for me..."

"You have a stalker...?" Loupe's eyes widened. Her behaviour made sense now. "Stupid brat... I'll kill him for you. Let me-"

"No, wait!" Veronique grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "Please don't... you'll cause a scene. Plus, it might damage your reputation even more! I mean... not many people agree with you guys yet..."

"You're just going to let him get away with this creepy behaviour?!" Loupe raised his voice. "Are you serious?! He should be thrown in prison! Who knows what he's going to do...?!"

"You're not the police! You handle possessions, not things like this... I'm sorry. I told Bruno that a superhero could help me, but that was a lie. I just didn't want to tell him..." she murmured.

Loupe was about to raise his voice again when the two of them were interrupted by a new arrival. Medusa jumped down from a nearby rooftop, cornering them in the alleyway. She held her harp tightly.

"Well, well, what do we have here? I heard some yelling and decided to check it out for myself." She smirked, walking towards the two. "Loupe, if you want to punish that stalker... maybe you should accept my help. I can give you all of the power you'll need to deal with him. You could send him straight to jail..."

"No-! Don't listen to her, Loupe!" Veronique grabbed Loupe's arm and tugged on it desperately. "I've heard about her... she's the one causing all of these possessions! The news might not be reporting that much on her, but..."

Loupe raised his gauntlets in defence. "I know not to trust this woman... don't worry. Your music won't have any effect on me!" He boldly claimed.

"Aw, that's cute," she responded, "I don't think you'll have much choice in the matter. My music can reach even blocked ears... it is magic, after all. Or did you forget how the miraculouses work?"

His eyes widened as Medusa played her harp before him. Curiously, even though Veronique could hear the music, it wasn't impacting her at all. Loupe was the one that was squirming, trying to resist.

"No! Stop it!" Veronique screamed at Medusa. She tried to cover Loupe's ears, but it didn't work. A new plan was needed. Luckily, it didn't take her long to think of one. She decided that the best course of action would be to charge at Medusa and actively try to take her harp away from her.

Medusa, naturally, stopped playing her harp when Veronique lunged for her harp. "Wh-What the hell are you doing-?!" She screamed, kicking Veronique in the chest. "Stay away! Geez!"

Veronique gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. She rubbed her head in pain and glanced towards Loupe. "W-Well? Attack her or something...!"

A light seemed to switch on in Loupe's mind. He sprinted towards Medusa with his gauntlets raised. "It'll be you who'll have to give up your miraculous!" He cried.

In response, Medusa jumped up onto the nearby rooftop and fled. She only had a harp - her chances of winning a fistfight were slim. Especially without Cygne by her side.

Loupe jumped up after her, but by the time he made it up, she had vanished. He cursed under his breath and made his way back down to the alleyway where Veronique was. "She's gone. I'll have to catch her some other time..."

"It's not your fault," Veronique smiled at him. "Please don't blame yourself. I'm more worried with where she went, though... she could target anyone-!"

Just as Veronique was saying this, a figure stepped into the entrance of alleyway. At first, the two of them assumed that the light was blocking the figure's face. However, as the figure stepped towards them, they realised that something was wrong.

Their body was covered in a dark shadow. All they could make out was a humanoid shape. And it was coming towards them. 

Loupe stood in front of Veronique protectively. "Don't worry. I'll protect you," he told her, "See that fire escape? Climb up it. You can get out of this dead end."

"I'll get someone's attention. That way, the rest of The Miraculous Six can join you," Veronique hissed as she began to climb up the fire escape. It was harder when she wasn't transformed on her stamina. 

"Who are you?!" Loupe demanded, readying his gauntlets. "Medusa possessed you, didn't she? All you have to do is let me help..."

The figure glanced up at Veronique and stretched out their arm towards her. Their arm stretched over Loupe, avoiding him entirely. It gripped the metal bars and advanced towards her. Loupe could only stare in shock as the figure climbed over him.

Veronique was climbing the stairs as fast as she could. She needed to transform. Minette could help out a lot more than Veronique could. Currently, all that Veronique was doing was trying to escape from this figure, which had decided to advance towards her. 

"Get away from her!" Loupe cried as he began to run up the staircase after Veronique. "Why's it ignoring me?!"

"Maybe it just doesn't want to talk to you," Veronique suggested as the figure stretched out a limb towards her. "Ah-! Wh-Why are you... get away from me!"

Loupe suddenly remembered that he had this power that could help him in situations like these. "Howl!" He commanded, letting out a mighty... howl. It successfully stunned the figure, but it put Loupe on a time limit. Five minutes until he detransformed.

With the figure taken care of, he grabbed Veronique and lugged her over his shoulder (apologising profusely). "Let's get you out of here," he hissed to her, jumping on top of a nearby roof.

"Y-You don't have to carry me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she grumbled, holding on to Loupe as tight as she could. 

"It's faster this way," he replied, "I'll take you someplace safe and far away from that thing. Then, I'll go back and take care of it... hopefully with the rest of my team..."

Once he decided on a safe place, Loupe set Veronique down. He needed to find a safe place for himself, so he could allow his kwami time to recharge before heading back to deal with the possessed figure. His day sure was busy. 

"Um... good luck," Veronique smiled at him, waving awkwardly. She watched as Loupe gave her a simple nod and jumped away. Finally, she was left alone. Time to transform. 

——

Flo was alerted of a nearby possession when she saw a spectre-like figure go past her house. At first, she thought it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. But then she realised that seeing a spectre in the middle of the day probably wasn't right.

Her grandmother, May, saw the spectre, too. She turned to Flo with a dark look on her face. “Be careful... I feel a lot of negative emotions around that thing.”

“You can’t feel negative emotions,” Flo scoffed, heading for the door. “I’m gonna... get some videos of it. You know, to sell to the news or something.”

“Of course, dear. Just be careful,” May warned her, “These things can be dangerous... stay out of the way if you can. I’m not exactly as young as I used to be... I can’t go chasing after you.”

“Well, that’s what The Miraculous Six is for. Saving people,” Flo told her, “They’re real... I’ve seen the pictures. They’ll stop that thing.”

“You have a lot of faith in them, don’t you?” May chuckled. “It’s nice to see... The Miraculous Six are certainly better than that awful Teen Miraculous from twenty years or so ago...”

Flo made a mental note to look into Teen Miraculous later. If they were Miraculous users of the past, she could learn a thing or do from them. You know - as the unofficial leader of The Miraculous Six.

She bid farewell to her grandmother and looked down at Kaliis. It was time to transform. “Kaliis, fly up!” She cried, activating her transformation.


	15. Last Spectre

Talonarrow flew onto the scene when he saw a large Spectre walk past his window. He had no idea how they were going to defeat such a thing, but he was certain that Monarch would think of something. She always had a good idea or two. In a way, her confidence had led to her becoming the leader of The Miraculous Six.

When he arrived, Loupe, Monarch, Minette and Cottontail were there already. He could see Coyote nearby, navigating the rooftops to try and reach them. The Spectre was nearby, frantically searching the alleyways for something.

"We need to get that thing's attention," Monarch instructed, taking charge as usual. "We don't even know who they are yet. Once we find that out, we can find out the reason as to why Medusa was able to possess them."

"Uh... may I confess something?" Loupe cleared his throat. "Medusa... I ran into her before she managed to possess someone else. She... she tried to possess me-"

"What?!" Cottontail cried dramatically, "No way! Did she succeed? I mean... I thought we were immune! She can possess miraculous holders, too?!"

"Technically, just because we possess a miraculous doesn't make us automatically immune to her powers," Talonarrow deduced, resting his hand on his chin. "I could use my powers on you, so she would be the same. It's a scary thought..."

"If anyone of us was to be possessed by her, the consequences would be disastrous!" Minette realised, "She would know our secret identity... our families... she could go after them! Surely we'd have to give up our miraculous..."

"It's not like they have a return address on them," Coyote shrugged. "Who would we even give them to? Anyways, Loupe was telling a story. Let him finish."

"Great. Thanks. As I was saying," Loupe rolled his eyes before continuing. "She tried to posses me, but my... uh, a civilian interrupted her. She then fled, where I presume she possessed someone else."

"Who was this civilian?" Monarch asked with narrowed eyes. "Perhaps they're the-"

"No, she's not. I took Veronique - uh, that's the civilian - to a safe place," he told them, "But the Spectre seemed to attack her... or at least try to, anyways. I didn't have time to ask her about it, though. I had to get her to safety."

The Spectre turned their attention to The Miraculous Six, apparently giving up on their search. Whilst they had no visible mouth, they still managed to 'speak'. Although, Monarch would argue that you couldn't apply logic to magic such as the snake miraculous. 

"Where is Veronique?" The Spectre said.

"Uh, who's Veronique?" Cottontail chuckled nervously. Perhaps that was too dumb. 

"The wolf had her. I saw him take her somewhere," The Spectre continued, "Tell me where she is, or I'll take your miraculous!"

"Wh-Why do you want to know where she is, anyway?" Minette asked them. "That's kind of creepy... we won't give you an innocent civilian like this."

"Yeah, we don't exactly have a policy of handing over civilians," snarled Coyote. "Especially to some creep like you. Who are you, really?"

The Spectre chose not to respond. Instead, they stretched out their arm and smashed their fist down onto the rooftop, narrowly missing the gang. The rooftop was crumbling from the force of the blow.

"Talonarrow, Minette, ensure that all nearby buildings are evacuated!" Monarch commanded, taking control of the situation. "The size of that thing... we should get it away from the buildings. Maybe find an open space where it can't do that much damage."

"There's a park near here! Maybe we can take him there!" Cottontail suggested, "I can make sure that it's evacuated, too. It's big enough to not damage too many buildings... so we can take this thing down without damaging the infrastructure too much."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's hurry - I doubt that thing has much patience," Talonarrow said as he looked down at the street below. "We'll come to the park as soon as we've evacuated everyone."

Minette, Cottontail and Talonarrow leapt away from the group to begin the evacuation. Meanwhile, Monarch, Coyote and Loupe taunted The Spectre and slowly led them towards the nearby park. Paris didn't entirely get out unscathed - a few street lamps were knocked over as The Spectre fumbled their way down the streets. They weren't exactly built for a giant to walk down.

"Hey! You big ugly! Almost there... don't you want to have an epic battle?" Coyote taunted The Spectre. "Say, uh... can any of you guys see the weak spot?"

"Mm... perhaps it's protected," Medusa suggested, "Medusa may have learned a thing or two by now. It would make sense for her to start using armour."

"So we have to beat them up a little, huh?" Loupe grinned. "Fine by me! Once the others get back here..."

Coyote dodged a fist slamming down next to him. "Right, right... why don't we try taking it down now? Come on, we can do it! It's a big, dumb baby. We'll... hey... that gives me an idea. Anyone have any rope?"

Monarch blinked at him. "Uh. Rope? Why do you..." she paused. "Ah. I see... I have no idea where we'll find a long bit of rope, though. Especially not one big enough to..."

"Hang on." Loupe held his finger up to his ear. "Hey, everyone! Whilst you're out there, do you think you could find the biggest piece of rope you can find? We're gonna need it."

"Damn. I didn't think we could do that," Coyote shrugged. "Maybe I should ask my kwami more about what we can do... uh, later, of course."

"If we can't find a rope long enough, we could tie them together," Monarch mumbled as she dodged another fist. "I hope you guys know how to tie a knot strong enough to hold."

It was at this time that Loupe heard an ominous beeping - one that he had elected to ignore until now. He was going to detransform soon. "I'll be back in a minute... I need to feed my kwami." He mumbled before running off.

The Spectre noticed this and began to walk in the direction Loupe ran off towards. Monarch noticed this and sent her whip flying towards the legs of The Spectre, forcing it to turn their attention towards her.

"Hang on," Coyote frowned. "Isn't your whip like, endless? Can't we use that instead of getting the others to search for a rope?"

"You... You're right," she said with wide eyes. "Let's execute the plan. Hey, Spectre! How about this?"

Coyote stood back and watched as Monarch wrapped her whip around both of The Spectre's legs. The Spectre was unable to move as a result. Monarch tugged on her whip, sending The Spectre tumbling to the ground.

At this time, the others finally returned. Their mouths fell open as they saw The Spectre on the ground - they were the size of a football pitch on the ground. Minette, Talonarrow and Cottontail all discarded the pieces of rope they had collected for this idea.

"It's time to find out who this Spectre really is, gang," grinned Cottontail as she readied her hammer. "Let's smash this thing to bits to find the weak spot!"

The group attacked The Spectre together, smashing the outer skin into pieces. It didn't appear to be in pain - when they severed a limb, it simply shrank away into nothingness. Once they had severed the arms and legs, the body began to shrink back into a normal size.

"Hey... there's a person in this after all!" Talonarrow pointed to the now smaller Spectre that lay before them, still wrapped in Monarch's whip. "Looks like the weak spot is in the back of the neck... Loupe, want to do the honours?"

Loupe nodded towards him and raised one of his gauntlets before bringing it down onto the back of The Spectre's neck. Medusa's spell was broken, the remains of The Spectre melting away before them. Loupe gasped as he recognised who The Spectre really was - Veronique's stalker.

Minette held Loupe back, seeing the anger in his eyes. "I'm guessing you recognise him, then?" She chuckled nervously. "Remember, we can't hurt civilians..."

"This one deserves to rot!" Loupe cried, "He's a stalker! He's the one that was stalking Veronique... she was scared to even go home because of this-"

Talonarrow stepped between the stalker and Loupe. "Right... so, is this true, Mr. Stalker? Tell us everything. Including how you came into contact with Medusa."

"My name is Francis, first of all," he spat, "I agreed to work with Medusa when she said that I would be able to capture the heart of Veronique... it's the only way to get with a popular actress such as herself."

"You're disgusting," Monarch snarled, "No wonder why you were stronger... you volunteered to be possessed. We have half the mind to lock you up, right now."

"But you won't, will you?" Francis laughed in her face. "It's not like they'll believe you - a bunch of costumed freaks. Some say you caused the whole zombie thing all along. You were seen at that graveyard. Sounds suspicious to me."

"We were busy saving your ass!" Coyote stomped his foot in anger. "Medusa wants to get the miraculous for her own gain. We'd be unable to stop her if so."

"I wouldn't care. As long as I had Veronique to myself," he shrugged. "Not like you'd understand true love... we're destined to be together!"

"That's nothing like true love! You shouldn't be stalking her!" Cottontail demanded, "You need to stop. How do you think she feels? She doesn't need some creepy fan following her every move. Loupe said she's scared to go home!"

Minette silently slipped away from the group whilst all of this was going on. She was happy to leave Francis' telling off to the group. Using her special ability, she sprinted to where Loupe had left her - Veronique - before. It was only a matter of time before he remembered her.

Sure enough, she was right. Loupe arrived a few minutes after she detransformed. He had a worried look on his face - at least he wasn't as angry as before.

"We caught the guy," Loupe told her, "It was your stalker... a guy named Francis. We gave him a good yelling, but make sure you tell someone about this, okay? If Medusa uses him again, and he... I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Veronique smiled at him nervously. "It's okay... I'll tell my dad. He'll know what to do. Besides, I'm not totally defenceless! Uh... my dad made me take self-defence classes and stuff."

"Your dad seems pretty smart," Loupe commented, "Did you... want me to walk you home or something? Y-You know... just in case we run into someone."

"I... okay. I'd like that." She blushed, taking Loupe's hand. "I hope it doesn't draw too much attention..."

\-----

Medusa threw Cygne's book across the room in anger. If size wasn't making it harder for The Miraculous Six, what was she to do? She couldn't afford anymore failures after this. She was sick and tired of being yelled at.

Cygne calmly picked up his book and sighed. "We haven't tried everything yet. There's an upcoming opportunity we can explore... on live TV, that is." 

"What are you talking about?" Medusa asked him, curious. "An opportunity? Why didn't you mention this to me before?"

"Andre Enterprises is holding a press event soon. Apparently, they’ve developed some sort of AI that can control a house,” he shrugged. “Seems a bit too creepy to me, but it’s going to be on live TV...”

“You’re saying that I disrupt the event,” Medusa realised, “An AI that can control a house, huh? I’m sure my powers can help me boost its power... that’ll make capturing The Miraculous Six even easier.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Cygne replied, “The entire Andre family will be there - even their son. Apparently, he’s going to be a part of their demonstration...”

Medusa felt a pang of guilt, but quickly shook it off. Nothing could get in the way of getting the Miraculous. Even if innocent people got caught up in it.


	16. The Poor and the Rich

Kobe glared at the remaining money left in his bank account. Only two more years of child payments. After that, he'd have to try and find a job. He'd done everything he could to keep his father away from his money, but he still managed to take money out of his bank account. He was almost in his overdraft. 

Still, he had just enough money to go to Kudos. There was no food in the house - not like he'd want to stay there, anyway. He always tried to avoid going home when he could. Perhaps he could try that new special going on - a main and dessert meal for six euros. He could have tap water for a drink to save money. It was a great idea.

He'd rather spend money on himself rather than his father's gambling debts. It reminded him of Bruno - he had a similar problem. He'd seen Bruno being chased by bouncers over them. At least they had a stable place to live. In fact, his father's gambling was the reason his parents had split up in the first place. If only he had been sent to live with his mother and sister...

_"Hey, Kobe, you okay?"_

Kobe glanced up to see Colette standing over him, holding his main dish. "You never order electronically. You always talk to someone," she said, putting down his food. "What's up?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," Kobe brushed her off and picked up his cutlery. "Just... home stuff, I guess. I wasn't in the mood to put on a brave face."

Colette frowned at him. "Well, if you're not gonna talk to someone, I'll turn up the TV for you. I'm sure that's why you sat so close to it. It'll be the news, but apparently Andre Enterprises are going to be revealing something cool. They're all talking about it in the kitchen..."

He began to eat his food as he focused on the TV. Colette had helpfully turned on the subtitles just in case he couldn't hear. He had never been interested in his fancy press conferences - he was practically glaring at the image on the screen. How could such a happy family raise such a bratty kid, known as Raphael? Maybe it was because they were rich or something.

_"Good afternoon, everyone,"_ the blond-haired man on the TV greeted, _"My name is Lucien Andre, CEO of Andre Enterprises. This here is my wife, Sophia, and my son, Raphael."_

Sophia waved at the crowd excitedly. " _We're just as excited as you are about this! Over the years, our wheelchair-bound son has found life difficult. We've already invested in putting ramps in all of our buildings, but our poor boy isn't strong enough to do everything by himself."_

_"Even at school, he has to ask someone to assist him. How can he carry all of his books and push himself at the same time?_ " Lucien shook his head. _"It's not possible. So, in order to give him some independence, we've created a perfect wheelchair for him - one that uses A.I to wheel him around!"_

There was a thunder of applause as Raphael rolled onto the stage, unaided. Kobe couldn't believe it. Maybe now he didn't need to spend his days huffing and puffing after Raphael. This was possibly the greatest idea he'd ever seen.

_"I love my parents so much... and this will make it easier for wheelchair users everywhere!"_ Raphael chirped as he positioned himself between his parents. _"I just program a path, and the A.I takes me there. It also stops if it senses people or obstructions in front of me. Isn't that so cool?"_

Sophia leaned down and planted a kiss on her son's forehead. _"That's right, dear... there's a bonus, too. We've installed our entire house with this A.I! It can open doors for us, run the bath... even make our toast! The full package is listed in your pamphlets."_ she said.

_"With this revolutionary technology, it makes life easier for homeowners, too,"_ Lucien continued, _"Life has certainly been a lot easier thanks to the A.I - which we're calling it RAPH, after our beloved son."_

The audience erupted into another round of applause. All that Kobe could think of was how much money such a thing would cost. No normal person could afford a wheelchair like that, right?

Raphael was busy showing off his brand new wheelchair to the audience, an annoying grin on his face. He was enjoying this, like the little brat he was. His happiness was soon to be interrupted by a new presence on the stage.

Medusa jumped onto the stage, causing the crowd to flee in a wild panic. She grinned and began to play her harp before anyone could stop her. _"Good luck getting yourselves out of this one, Miraculous Six!"_ She giggled as the camera cut out. 

Kobe jumped out of his seat. Dessert would have to wait - the city needed him. If only the camera was running fora moment longer, then he could've seen what Medusa possessed...

"I'll be back!" Kobe yelled at Colette, picking up his bag and dashing out of Kudos. "Alright... Koou, you ready?"

Koou flew out of Kobe's pocket and nodded. "It's a shame you couldn't have taken the dessert with us, but... as long as there's some snacks in your pocket, we'll be fine..." they mumbled.

"Koou, let's run!"

\---

Raphael's wheelchair had decided that now was the time to be on the fritz. Everyone had left the stage without him - including his parents. He was stuck, unable to even manually roll his wheelchair. Alarms were blaring all around him. Just what had Medusa done?

Medusa turned his wheelchair to face her, a mad grin on her face. "You're coming with me," she declared, picking Raphael up and carrying him over her shoulder. 

"W-Wait! Don't possess me!" Raphael begged as Medusa jumped upwards, scaling the building that had appeared behind them. "I... wait a second. I don't remember my house being this tall. What did you-"

"I modified it, yes. That's the power of the Miraculous," she explained, grunting as she climbed into an opened window. "I just needed the help of my... helper. It's much better than possessing a mere human."

She put Raphael down as he looked around the new room they were in. It was a tall tower, right in the centre of his house. Inside the room were various surveillance cameras and hi-tech equipment. It reminded him of a control tower in one of his video games. 

"Behold - the centre to my madness. In this place, I can control every single bit of your new and improved house." Medusa demonstrated this by locking the window that they had entered through. "It's the perfect trap. They'll never win... I will get their Miraculous..."

"Yes, but.. why bring me here?" Raphael asked her, shifting the cushions in his seat. "I could just escape and tell them-"

"You can't exactly walk out of here," Medusa deadpanned. "I think it'll be funny, seeing you attempt to crawl out of here... I just wanted to keep you out of the way, that's all. You do know the outline of the original house, and that could help them."

Raphael wasn't exactly satisfied with her answer, but he didn't want to push her any further. He was lucky enough to not be in that house himself. "What about my parents? Did you see where they ran off to?" He asked her.

Medusa gestured to a certain security camera. "I locked them in this room, for the same reason you're here. So they don't reveal the original house design. I'm sure they'll be okay, if that's what you're worried about," she said.

"Then why didn't you do the same to me?" He pressed her. "You didn't have to take me to the same room you're in. You could've just dumped me anywhere..."

Medusa chose not to respond to his question. Instead, she pointed to a nearby intercom with a glowing red dot in the middle. "Stay clear of RAPH. They only obey my orders. And they seem to have a hatred for everyone else... totally not my fault. It's why they decided to stop moving your wheelchair," she told him. "RAPH... uh, what's RAPH stand for, exactly?"

_"RAPH is a shortened version of 'Raphael', the person I am named after,"_ the calm voice over the intercom explained. _"There is no 'meaning' behind the capitalisation. They gave up when they couldn't think of one. Is there anything else I can help you with, Medusa?"_

"Oh, cool. It's not robotic sounding at all," Medusa chuckled to herself. "I thought it would be... but it sounds oddly human. I should've possessed an A.I earlier."

_“It appears that the Miraculous Six are standing outside. Should I let them in?”_ RAPH asked her. 

“Oh, yes! Set the place full of traps! Make sure they can never access this place,” Medusa demanded, “Separating them is a good idea... ooh, maybe we could do this... I really should’ve planned for this...”

Raphael leaned over to look at the surveillance cameras. Sure enough, the Miraculous Six were stood by the gate. He couldn’t even warn them - Medusa had done the bare minimum to keep him trapped here. Besides, he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by trying to crawl out of the window.

He sighed and grabbed a nearby pen and paper Medusa had been using to scribble down various torture ideas. He had overheard his parents talking about RAPH before the press conference. Maybe if he wrote down everything he knew about the A.I, it could help someone. As long as Medusa didn’t see it, of course.

“Just sit there and be quiet, okay?” Medusa gestured to Raphael as she typed instructions up onto a computer. “Don’t make me ask RAPH to hold you down or something. Neither of us want that.”

“Th-They can hold me down?” Raphael stuttered, seeing a chance to gather information. “I mean... I know they have access to things like ovens, but I didn’t think...”

“There’s a great thing about my power. I can basically make whatever I want happen!” She giggled mischievously. “Including giving RAPH restraints to use on that sofa you’re sitting on. Of course, we’ll only be restraining your legs. It’s not like you could walk away, but just in case you decide to crawl away.”

“There’s nowhere to crawl to,” Raphael pointed out, “And, uh... noted. I’ll make sure to not... do any of that... haha...”

——

RAPH opened the gates for the Miraculous Six. Everyone else had ran away the moment the Andre’s home showed signs of expanding more than three times over. Of course, it couldn’t really expand sideways, so if instead expanded upwards, creating an impossible tower to climb. 

Another feature this tower had was that there were no windows to climb through. They’d just have to enter the only door provided and scale it from the inside. Right into RAPH and Medusa’s lair.

Monarch turned to her fellow teammates, all gathered together. “Right. Everyone, stay alert. We don’t know what to expect... and, to be honest, I don’t know the weak point of an A.I,” she smiled nervously. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

“Let’s remember to get any civilians we can find out if there,” Talonarrow pointed out, “We don’t want anyone to get hurt should the tower fall... I... don’t know how it’s not doing that right now, to be honest.”

“I know, right? It’s crazy!” Cottontail agreed, “I suppose that’s Medusa’s power... being able to defy physics and all that stuff...”

“Let’s get this over with,” Coyote grunted. “I’m hungry, and there won’t be anything to eat in there. I want to get back to my food as soon as possible.”

“Good luck, guys!” Cheered Minette, “Let’s stay together. We can’t afford to be trapped alone in there.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know.” Loupe rolled his eyes. “We’ve done these things before. Defeat the villain, get out. We’ll be fine! Now - onwards! Time to get rid of this mess!”


	17. The Eleventh Hour

The Miraculous Six ran inside the modified version of Raphael’s house, only to be greeted with a metal room with no doors. Apart from the one they entered from, of course. 

_“The only way to advance is to leave one of you behind.”_

Loupe turned round and tried to locate the voice. “Who the hell was that?! Is there an intercom in here?” He asked the group. 

“I... believe that’s the A.I. From the press conference,” Coyote deduced, “Remember? The one that can control a house. Medusa... Medusa must’ve possessed it, somehow. That explains this room...”

“Which is all good, but how do we stop an A.I?” Cottontail sagged her shoulders. “They don’t really have a physical form, do they?”

“We could get to Medusa directly, perhaps,” Talonarrow suggested, “If we stop her, she can take away the possession. I bet she couldn’t resist being nearby...”

“Yeah! She could even be in this place!” Minette giggled excitedly. “Maybe that’s why she’s so eager to split is up. One against six isn’t very fair.”

“L-Let’s just focus on this room for now,” Monarch told the others, “RAPH, what did you mean one of us would have to stay behind?”

_“If you would take a look at the corner of the room... there’s a button. Said button opens the door, but locks the user inside. In order for your group to escape to the next room, one of you will have to stay behind. No getting around it.”_

Cottontail ran towards the button and gasped. “Oh! That’s what it’s for. It looks like the glass cage seals around you... uh, or something...” she chuckled. “Maybe that’s how Medusa plans to split us up, so by the time we get to her, there will only be one of us. That way, she can take us out one by one.”

“That’s... that’s a brilliant deduction, Cottontail,” Talonarrow smiled at her. “Good job. But this begs the question - which one of us should go up against Medusa?”

The team stared at each other. It wasn’t a question they thought about a lot. Which one of them was the strongest - up until now, they’d all worked together as a team. Their numbers made them stronger. 

“M-Maybe we shouldn’t think about that right now,” Minette gestured to the button. “Let’s think of it like this - as we go along, who should stay behind? Not ‘who should face Medusa’. You never know, two of us might run into Medusa. In that instance, we should... uh...”

“Leave the weakest behind.” Coyote stared at her. She didn’t want to say it. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it? I hope you people don’t have weak feelings.”

“No, no, I... I suppose it makes sense,” Monarch admitted, “Let’s hurry this up. If you think you’re the weakest in a fight against Medusa, stay behind. And explain why you think you’re the weakest... maybe...”

There was a moment of silence before Minette spoke up. She stepped onto the platform and gestured to her weapon. “Well, uh... I can’t see a ribbon being that useful in a fight in close range, can you? I’ll keep a lookout in case anyone comes in.”

“Thanks, Minette... we won’t let you down!” Cottontail told her, giving her a thumbs up. 

Minette nodded and pressed the button, sealing herself in. The door to the next room opened above them. They would have to climb upwards to get to Medusa, who was at the top of the tower. 

Talonarrow grunted as he helped Cottontail up into the next room. “Makes sense, I suppose. Medusa being right at the top,” he commented, “She could’ve at least put a ladder here, though.”

When they reached the next room, there was another button in the corner. The exact same layout as before. The same challenge.

_“Please repeat until you’ve reached the top.”_ RAPH instructed the group.

“This isn’t very fun,” Loupe complained, “She’s just thinning us out until we’re all separated. She’ll take us on one by one to make things easier for her...”

Monarch gasped as the door below them shut. The last thing she saw from the floor below was Minette trying to get out of the glass that had sealed her in. Something was wrong.

“I... I need to examine that seal thing,” Monarch said as she leapt onto the platform with the button. “I noticed something before that door closed... everyone, don’t go up immediately. Let’s see what happens when I stop pressing the button.”

Cottontail ran up to Monarch to try and stop her. “B-But what about the pla-”

It was too late. Monarch pressed the button, sealing herself in. A door above them opened once again. This time, Monarch stopped pressing the button. The glass seal stayed up. 

“S-So it keeps you in, no matter what...!” Talonarrow gasped at the realisation. “What a foul trick! Yet, there’s no way we can get out of it... we have to play along.”

At Monarch’s insistence, the group climbed up into the next room. It was the same room as the last two. Medusa was intent on making them repeat the same test, over and over.

“I’ll go next,” Talonarrow volunteered as the door shut below them. “I’ll try and use my ability to escape-”

“Do that, and you risk exposing your real identity,” Coyote warned him, “I bet she has security cameras here, watching us. You’ll detransform and show your real self. Medusa might be waiting for us to do just that.”

“S-Still... I’ll do it,” Talonarrow insisted, heading on over to the button. “One thing, though... there could be other people locked in here. You should see if the next floor is any different. See if someone else is nearby.”

“We could knock to see if someone’s there,” Loupe suggested, “They could knock back. You never know - it’s worth a try.”

Talonarrow pressed the button and watched as the rest of his teammates climbed further upwards. The first thing he noticed when he was sealed in was the lack of air holes. Was that what they called them in space? The types of things you’d put in a pet cage to stop them from suffocating. Wait, was that what was going to happen to him? 

Cottontail, Loupe and Coyote were the only ones left. Cottontail took to Loupe’s idea and began knock on the walls surrounding them. She had almost given up when she heard someone knock back.

“Urp-!” She cried, jumping backwards. “H-Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me?”

_“Oh-! Someone really is there, Lucien! I told you!”_ A voice from the other side hissed. 

“A voice?!” Loupe ran to the side of the wall the voice was coming from. “Hello? Who’s there? This is Loupe, along with Cottontail and Coyote. Answer me!”

_“Th-This is Lucien Andre. I’m here with my wife, Sophia,”_ another voice, Lucien, said, _“RAPH turned against us and locked us in here. Can you get us out?”_

“I’m afraid Medusa has total control of this place, now,” Coyote grumbled, “We’re trying to get to her to put a stop to this.”

_“Be careful... RAPH is controlling everything about this place,”_ Sophia warned the group, _“Don’t anger them. I wish we could be helpful, but we weren’t exactly the technicians...”_

“As long as we know you’re safe, I suppose,” Cottontail sighed. “Hang on. Where’s your son? You know, Raphael? Isn’t he with you?”

_“We got separated in the panic,”_ Lucien explained, _“He’s probably locked up in another room or something. You should worry about stopping RAPH.”_

“Right. Well, I’m going to use my hammer to break out of the glass once I’ve pressed the button,” Cottontail declared, marching towards the button. “Don’t worry about me. Once I’ve broken out, I’ll get the others, and we can join you.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Loupe nodded at her and got ready to jump up to the next floor. “That hammer is huge. It must be able to get through the glass...”

Cottontail pressed the button and watched as the next floor opened up. “Yep! That’s what I’m counting on, anyway... hehe...”

Coyote helped Loupe up onto the next floor. The constant repeat of this button process was getting annoying. Medusa really was intent on dividing them up. 

“Right, I’ve had enough!” Loupe declared, “RAPH! Release our friends at this instant! Or I’ll... I’ll smash up this button! With my fists!”

_“I’m sorry, Loupe. I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,”_ RAPH’s voiced echoed throughout the room. _“Might I suggest hurrying it up? There’s a special feature I put into those cages your friends are in. Rather... something that they lack.”_

“What is it?” Coyote snapped, “Radiation? Did you put radiation in the cages?!”

_“I said ‘a lack of’. What they lack is any air circulation,”_ RAPH explained, _“They’re airtight. Sealed off from the environment. Originally, they were used to store dangerous chemicals that needed to be in a sealed environment. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what happens when humans run out of oxygen.”_

“You monster-!” Loupe cried out, “You’ll kill them! You’ll bloody kill them! I... Coyote, I’m trusting you to deal with this!” He ran towards the button and slammed it down, taking a large gulp of air. 

Coyote gave Loupe a small salute and hopped up to the next floor. He didn’t have the heart to tell Loupe that taking a large gulp of air wouldn’t have made much of a difference. He also didn’t have time to work out how long his companions had - all he knew was that he had to hurry.

Luckily, the next floor was something different entirely. Coyote found himself in a wide corridor with a door right at the end. He ran towards it and kicked the door open.

He stumbled into the next room and smashed straight into a pane of glass. The door closed behind him. Medusa stood in front of pane of glass, safe in her surveillance room.

“Not so fast, Coyote,” Medusa smirked at him. “I can’t have you going in here all guns-blazing. Haven’t you noticed my hostage?”

Coyote glanced at the nearby sofa. Raphael was sitting there. How long had he been there? 

“I hardly want you busting up my nice and pretty room,” she giggled. “Give me your miraculous, and I’ll let your friends go. Remember what RAPH said? They’re suffocating. I can always take their miraculous off of their dead bodies, if that’s what you’d like.”

“You can’t kill them!” Coyote cried, “Don’t you dare! I’ll break into that place and stop you first...!”

Medusa held up a remote and pointed it at the screens behind her. “Good thing about RAPH. They can record anything. Look, here’s your friends now - they can’t get out. Isn’t that fun?” 

She waved her hand, multiple screens lighting up around Coyote. It showed his friends, all desperately trying to escape their glass containers. Medusa picked up a nearby microphone and pressed another button.

“Attention, residents of Paris!” Medusa announced, “Here’s your so-called heroes, slowly suffocating. Soon, I’m going to take their powers, and you’ll see who they really are. One by one.”

——

Alexandre was watching the broadcast. It was impossible not to - Medusa had invaded every program and was broadcasting in every TV in Paris. He was attempting to keep out of important events, but his patience was running thin.

“Wh-What should we do, master?” Adder asked him, “They’re in danger... look, five of them have no chance of getting out...”

“We can’t go in and save them each time they get into trouble,” Alexandre insisted, but a frown was on his face. “I... mm. Maybe...”

Adder perked up. “What? What is it? You’ve thought of something...?”

“I can’t allow myself to go there as Aithusa, but perhaps...” Alexandre smirked. “I could do something in my civilian form to help out. Just a little.”

“I’ll get your coat.” Adder grinned as they flew to the door, eager to do their part to help out their kwami friends.


End file.
